Memorial service for iSchool Dean Emeritus Robert S. Taylor to be held April 24 in Hendricks Chapel

Memorial service for iSchool Dean Emeritus Robert S. Taylor to be held April 24 in Hendricks ChapelApril 14, 2009Margaret Costello Spillettmcostell@syr.edu

A memorial service for Robert S. Taylor, dean emeritus of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool), will be held Friday, April 24, at 4 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Taylor, a resident of Syracuse, died Jan. 1. He was 90.

Remembrances will be delivered by iSchool Dean Elizabeth D. Liddy; University of Washington iSchool Dean Emeritus and Professor Michael Eisenberg; University of Illinois iSchool Professor Emerita Pauline Cochrane; Taylor’s former assistant, Connie Webb; Russ Tarby, his biographer and a Syracuse-area writer; family member Dan Golden; friend and professor of music at Onondaga Community College Kevin Moore; and iSchool Director of Alumni Relations and former student Barbara Settel.

Friends, students and colleagues are invited to attend; parking will be available in the Irving Garage. Individuals should inform the attendant that they are attending the Taylor memorial service. A reception will follow in the lobby of Hinds Hall.

Dean of the SU School of Information Studies from 1972-81, Taylor made the bold decision to change the school name from “library science” to the more comprehensive, “information studies,” which set the school on course to be a leader among its peers and a pioneer in establishing the new academic field of information studies.

Among his other accomplishments, Taylor established the first M.S. in information resource management and wrote seminal works in the field that continue to shape today’s discussions. He was recognized in 1972 with the American Society for Information Science’s Best Book Award for “The Making of a Library” (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1972) and was recognized in 1992 by the American Society for Information Science with its highest recognition, the Award of Merit.

The iSchool is accepting contributions to the Fay and Robert Taylor Scholarship Fund, which provides partial scholarship and financial assistance to a deserving graduate student in the M.S. in Library and Information Science program. Donations can be sent to: Fay and Robert Taylor Scholarship Fund, 343 Hinds Hall, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244.

All are invited to share a remembrance on a tribute website at http://ischool.syr.edu/taylor.