[Sighfis-l] Paul Wasserman

[Richard Hill]

Maryland's iSchool Mourns the Loss of Dr. Paul Wasserman

College Park, MD (5/14/09)- The College of Information Studies, 
University of Maryland announces the death of Dr. Paul Wasserman, 
Professor Emeritus and the College's founding Dean with sadness and 
sympathy for his family. Wasserman died Friday, May 8, 2009, following 
a period of ill health; he was 85 years old. Services will be held on 
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, with burial at 9:00 am at Arlington National 
Cemetery, Arlington, VA, followed by a memorial service at 11:30 am in 
Memorial Chapel, University of Maryland, College Park. Lunch after the 
memorial service will be at the clubhouse of the University of 
Maryland Golf Course.

Wasserman took up the post of Dean of the School of Library and 
Information Services, University of Maryland, in January 1965, shortly 
after the school was formally approved. He began work with a secretary 
but without faculty, curriculum, or students. However, the promise to 
open the school in fall 1965 had been made and was kept through 
Wasserman's efforts. He built the new school to be interdisciplinary, 
recruiting an engineer, a physicist, and an industrial psychologist, 
among others, to be the first faculty. He had undertaken a 
post-doctoral fellowship in data processing and information technology 
and knew the importance of technology to information work. The 
technology required course in the MLS program was one of the first of 
its kind. Wasserman attained full accreditation of the program by the 
American Library Association before the first graduated in 1966. He 
led the design of the doctoral program, which admitted its first 
students in 1967. He left the deanship in 1970 and returned to a 
fulltime faculty position.

Wasserman was well known for his contributions to library 
administration. He lectured and consulted internationally, frequently 
working on programs to educate library administrators in developing 
countries. With his colleague Mary Lee Bundy he edited _Reader in 
Library Administration_ (Microcard Editions, 1968). His interest in 
designing information products led to the publication of numerous 
reference books. One of the best known is _Statistics Sources_, first 
published by Gale Research Company in 1962; this massive compilation 
of sources of statistical information remains in publication. He 
taught his popular course on the design of information products and 
services until 2005.

Wasserman is, perhaps, best known for his commitment to international 
cooperation in information services. He lent his professional 
expertise to projects in more than two dozen countries and was admired 
and respected by library educators and practitioners throughout the 
world. He worked with many organizations including USAID, OAS, 
Department of State, FID, IFLA, UN organizations including UNESCO, and 
national and regional organizations including ALA, ASIS (now ASIST), 
and government agencies and professional organizations of many 
nations. He spoke at a conference in Hanoi in 1991 when the US did not 
have representation in Vietnam.

Prior to coming to Maryland, Wasserman was Librarian and Professor, 
Graduate School of Business and Public Administration, Cornell 
University. He held many visiting professorships in the US and abroad. 
He earned a B.B.A. from the College of the City of New York, master's 
degrees in library science and in economics from Columbia University, 
and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Wasserman is survived by his wife Krystyna Wasserman, son Steven 
Wasserman, daughter Jacqueline Monroe, and grandchildren. Cards and 
notes may be sent to the Wasserman family c/o College of Information 
Studies, 4105 Hornbake Building, University of Maryland, College Park, 
MD 20742. More information about memorial donations will be made 
available later on the College's website (www.ischool.umd.edu).

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Jaime Oliver-Clark
Communications Coordinator
College of Information Studies
University of Maryland
4110 Hornbake Bldg
301-405-1260
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Dr. Michel J. Menou
Visiting Professor, DIS, University College London, U.K.
Consultant in ICT policies and Knowledge & Information Management
B.P. 15
F-49350 Les Rosiers sur Loire, France
Email: micheljmenou[at]gmail[dot]com
michel[dot]menou[at]orange[dot]fr
Phone: +33 (0)2 41511043
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ciber/peoplemenou.php
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