[Sighfis-l] Jerry Saye

[Marchionini, Gary]

It is with great sadness that I share that Dr. Jerry D. Saye, our friend,
colleague and former faculty member at the School of Information and Library
Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, passed away at
his home yesterday, June 7, 2012. 
 
Jerry was an exceptional teacher, winning the School's Outstanding Teaching
Award twice, once in 1998 and again in 2005, as well as the Association for
Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Award for Teaching
Excellence in 2002. He was the recipient of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill's Distinguished Teaching Award for Post Baccalaureate
Instruction in 1999 and became a member of the Academy of Distinguished
Teaching Scholars in 2000. In 2009, he received the Lifetime Teaching Award,
a special award presented by SILS for exceptional teaching. 
 
His primary subject areas included cataloging and classification, history of
the book, library history and metadata. Jerry authored, "Manheimer and
Saye's Cataloging and Classification," 5th edition. New York: Marcel Dekker,
and from 1997 to 2002, he edited with Dr. Evelyn Daniel, the annual "Library
and Information Science Education Statistical Report." He published many
papers, articles and reports, and presented broadly primarily on subjects
related to cataloging. In addition, he conducted many workshops on subjects
for which he had great passion to help educate colleagues and students. He
was devoted to his teaching, but he was also a devoted leader at SILS. In
1990, he was appointed assistant dean and in 1994, he was promoted to
associate dean of the school.    
 
Jerry became involved with the country of Slovenia when he advised SILS
doctoral student Alenka Šauperl (Ph.D. '99), a SILS alumna and now a
professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at the
University of Ljubljana. In 2003, he received the prestigious title of
Senior Fulbright Scholar to Slovenia, which deepened his affection for this
area of the world. His connections there resulted in a long-standing
exchange program between SILS and the University of Ljubljana, and a summer
seminar that was in place at SILS for several years. In November of 2011, he
was presented with the "Pro universitate labacensis" award "for special
merit for advancing the development of the University of Ljubljana."      
 
Jerry received his Ph.D. and Master's degrees in Library Science from the
University of Pittsburgh. He was inducted into the Beta Phi Mu
(International Honor Society in Library Science) in 1971. 
 
He had been an active member in several professional groups including: Zveza
Bibliotekarskih Društev Slovenije. Društva Ljubljana.  [Union of
Associations of Slovene Librarians. Ljubljana Association]; Society for
Slovene Studies; the American Library Association; American Society for
Information Science and Technology; Association for Library and Information
Science Education; and the Association for Library Collections and Technical
Services.
 
In addition to a stellar academic career, Jerry served as Commander in the
U.S. Pacific Fleet in the United States Navy. He spent part of his time at
the Pearl Harbor Naval Base Library as a Library Technical Assistant. He
later  rejoined the U.S. Naval Reserves and retired as a Lt. Commander with
27 years of service.   
 
Our deepest condolences to Jerry's wife Terri Orsini Saye, his sisters,
Sandra (Bob) Kord and Debra (Jan) Grunewald, mother and father-in-law Tony
and Mary Louise Orsini and his nieces, nephews who he leaves behind. 
 
A celebration of Jerry's life will be held later this fall to honor the
lifetime of teaching and leadership he gave to SILS on the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. A Web page where you may wish to leave
your favorite memory of Jerry Saye is available at:
 http://sils.unc.edu/remembrance/jerry-saye
 
The family has requested that memorial contributions be made in his honor to
the School of Information and Library Science at UNC at Chapel Hill, the
Orange County Rescue Squad or another charity of your choice. 
 
 
 
 
Gary Marchionini
Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Professor
School of Information and Library Science
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
gary at ils.unc.edu