The Summers Era(1985-1994)
From CI History Wiki
1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
Birth: Jacksonville, Florida on February 8, 1933 to Wesley and Kathleen (Gilreath) Summers.
Background: One younger sister, Annette (Gradd) – A retired school media specialist in West Palm Beach - Father was a librarian at the Jacksonville Public Library who served as a branch librarian and later as head of reference working at the public library for nearly 25 years and worked as a salesman for Gaylord Company for nearly 20 years until his death in 1971. He was responsible for Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
Education: Public school in Jacksonville – graduated from Andrew Jackson High School (1951) – Enrolled in Jacksonville Junior College and received his AA Degree (1953) – Began working at the Jacksonville Public Library while in high school and continued until he finished junior college – Florida State University in Tallahassee and received a BA degree in Library Science (June, 1955) – Immediately he was commissioned in the US Navy and served two years in Taiwan as a cryptographer and aide to Vice-Admiral Austin K. Doyle, Commander of the US Taiwan Defense command – Discharged in 1957 as a Lieutenant JG, and in November, 1957 and was married to Marie Marjenhoff in Jacksonville, she is a graduate of Florida State University
Graduate Study: Moved to New Jersey in Jan. 1958, so that he could begin an M.L.S. program at Rutgers Univ. (1958 – 59)
Professional Jobs: Dir. of the Public Library in Cocoa, FL – (Oct. 1961) Assist. Dir. of the Providence, RI Public Lib. and later Associate Director – (1964) President of the Rhode Island Lib. Assoc. – State Librarian of Florida (1965 - 69)
Doctoral studies: - 1969 Rutgers University to begin work on his PhD in Library Science – completed in 1977
Dean: (1973 – 85) Assistant Dean and Professor in the School of Library Science at the University of South Carolina – (1976) Dean of the School of Library Science (now the College of Library and Information Science) at the University of South Carolina – (1981) President of the South Carolina Library Association – (1982) President of the Association for Library and Information Science Education – (Jan. 1984) married Lorraine Schaeffer, Assistant State Librarian of Florida, in Tallahassee, FL – (Jul.1985) Dean and Prof., School of Library and Information Studies, Florida State Univ. – At that time he was serving as a member of the ALA Executive Board and ALA Council. In 1987-88 he was elected Vice-President/President-elect of the American Library Association. Also in 1987 he was selected the Distinguished Alumnus of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies of Rutgers University. Dean Summers served as President of ALA in 1988-89, and from 1992-1995 he chaired the ALA Organizational Self-Study Committee. In August, 1994, he relinquished the deanship (Dean-Emeritus) of the School to return to full-time teaching. In July of 1996, Dr. Summers was awarded the prestigious American Library Association Joseph B. Lippincott Award.
Special contributions: – Dr. Summers is a consummate politician, and during his tenure the stature of the School rose to a new level. There was a major revision of the curriculum, enhancement of the PhD program, reestablishing the strong distance learning programs (on-going program in Southeast Florida and cohort programs in Pensacola and Jacksonville) and the beginning planning for the new undergraduate information studies program, which is the first of its type in the world.
Last updated: 05:18, 13 November 2008 (UTC) by Steven Pfeil
Content Provider: Thomas Hart
