William Goffman, former Dean of the School of Library Science at Case Western Reserve University (fwd)

[Gretchen Whitney]

> Dear Colleagues:
>
> On 29 February 2000, William Goffman, former Dean of the School of Library
> Science at Case Western Reserve University died in Cleveland.  Bill is
> well known to colleagues and former students as a gifted mathematician who
> pioneered work on the epidemiological theory of information dissemination,
> among other topics.
>
> I am seeking cooperation from anyone who is familiar with Bill's work and
> could help in the preparation of a suitable brief review of his work for
> publication.    The following obituary was published in the Case Western
> Reserve University magazine, Summer 2000:
>
>               WILLIAM GOFFMAN, a onetime professor and dean at Case
> Western Reserve University, died February 29 at his home in Bratenahl, OH.
> He was 76.
>
>               Born in Cleveland, Dean Goffman served as a major in the
> Army Air Corps during World War II.
>
>               He received a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. in mathematics
> from the University of Michigan in 1950 and 1954, respectively.   He
> worked as a private mathematical consultant until 1960, when he became a
> staff mathematician and, later, a research associate at the Center for
> Documentation and Communication Research at the School of Library Science
> at Western Reserve University.  He carried out extensive research on
> mathematical models in systems design for information retrieval, or
> indexing systems for machine searching and on the use of Boolean functions
> in machine programming.
>
>               In 1968, he became a full-time professor in the School of
> Library Science.  His area of specialization was communication theory and
> information systems.  He was appointed dean of the school in 1971, and
> served through 1977.  During this time, he also served as director of the
> University's Complex Systems Institute (1972-75).  He returned to teaching
> for a few years before becoming director of the Training Program on
> Computer Applications in the Health Sciences at the School of Medicine.
> He worked at the medical school until his retirement in 1986, when he was
> named professor emeritus and dean emeritus of the School of Library and
> Information Science.
>
>               He wrote and contributed to numerous publications and
> scientific journals.  During the 1970s, Dean Goffman was the principal
> investigator for several National Institutes of Health and National
> Science Foundation grants.  He was elected Fellow of the American
> Association for the Advancement of Science in 1982, and is listed in Who's
> Who in the World, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in Science and
> Engineering.
>
>               Dean Goffman is survived by his wife, Patricia, and a
> brother.
>
>
> WHEN RESPONDING PLEASE ATTACH THIS MESSAGE
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Eugene Garfield, Ph.D.
>  Past  President, American Society for Information Science & Technology -
> www.asis.org
> Chairman Emeritus, ISI, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
> Publisher, THE SCIENTIST, 3600 Market St,
> Philadelphia, PA 19104 (www.the-scientist.com)
> Tel: 215-243-2205 // Fax: 215-387-1266
> email:  garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
> The Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com
> Home Page: http://garfield.library.upenn.edu
>
>
>
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>
>