[Asis-l] Deborah Barreau

[Monroe, Wanda G.]

The following message is sent on behalf of Dr. Gary Marchionini, dean of the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  -Wanda
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It is with great sadness that I share news that our friend and colleague, Dr. Deborah Barreau, lost her battle with cancer earlier this morning. Although some of you may not have had the opportunity to know Deborah, she was a talented and gifted teacher and researcher who specialized in personal information systems, organizational behavior and organizational communication as well as the design, development and use of information systems. She was a student of our School, graduating with her Master's in Library Science in 1986 and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park. She was a Tar Heel at heart, receiving her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She came to SILS in 2002 from Catholic University where she had been an assistant professor. Deborah was a wonderful addition to our faculty, most recently serving as the Frances Carroll McColl Term Professor. She put our School above her own ambitions and did many things to make us civil, effective and collaborative. She did this through her wisdom, warm smile and willingness to go the extra step to give us all her time, advice and a sympathetic ear. She was an exceptional teacher, winning the School's Award for Teaching Excellence twice and the international teaching award from the American and Society for Information Science & Technology. Her involvement with professional associations such as ASIS&T where she was elected as Director at Large to its Board, ACM, the Association for Library and Information Science Education, Special Libraries Association and others, demonstrated her extraordinary commitment to the field. 

Deborah was not only a remarkable faculty member and researcher, she was also one of the most compassionate and understanding people I've had the opportunity to know. She truly cared about her students and their successes, and her fellow faculty members and staff of our School.  I have never met anyone as selfless and devoted to others, especially to our students. She has been a great influence in my life, the lives of her students and colleagues and has brought true meaning to the words kindness and integrity. Deborah had a quote on her door that exemplified her beliefs and her life practice: "Everyone is indispensable."  She believed this and lived her life accordingly. Her spirit and inspiration is truly indispensable and although we will miss her terribly, we are all better for having known her. Her death is an incredible loss to SILS and to the information and library science world. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with Deborah's family as they struggle with this great loss. A memorial tribute to her life will be planned. Details will be available on our Web site when they are available. I'm unsure of funeral arrangements, but when we learn of them we'll make sure to add them to our Web site as well. 

Gary


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Wanda Monroe
Director of Communications
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
100 Manning Hall, CB 3360
Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3360
Phone: 919-843-8337
Web: sils.unc.edu
Follow us on Twitter at: UNC SILS