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Dr. Diane Kelly Named 2009 ASIS&T Teacher of the Year
Sept. 30, 2009 - Dr. Diane Kelly, assistant professor at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been named the American Society of Information Science & Technology's (ASIS&T) 2009 Thomas Reuters Outstanding Information Science Teacher.
The Thomson Reuters Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award was established in 1980 and is administered annually by the Information Science Education Committee with the purpose of recognizing the unique teaching contribution of an information science educator.
Kelly’s reception of the award comes after five years of dedicated teaching at SILS —where she won the SILS Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 2007.
Letters written by her peers in support of her nomination highlight Kelly’s exceptional teaching skills. She was described as both “accessible to her students” and “an excellent mentor and role model for them both inside and outside the classroom.” Kelly “provides mentoring to her students that they have described as ‘over and above what professors normally provide.’”
Another faculty member wrote: “[Diane] has received enthusiastic praise for her teaching, from both her students and her peers and excels at teaching even those courses that are required and not necessarily the most popular. As one student noted, she ‘really rocks as a teacher!’”
"She is an exemplary teacher; demanding yet fair, master both of her topics and of the ability to impart that knowledge effectively, innovative in identifying new and significant topics of instruction, and in methods of instruction," said Nicholas Belkin, professor, Department of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University. "In particular, Dr. Kelly has been remarkably successful in the teaching of methods of research in information science, developing wholly new courses in this area, inspiring her students to appreciate the significance of the topic (no small feat) and leading them to become expert in it themselves.”
In summing up Kelly’s remarkable pedagogical skill, Interim Dean, Dr. Barbara B. Moran, perhaps says it best: “It is clear from her students that Dr. Kelly is a wonderful mentor and advisor. Time and again, they (students) have emphasized that she is available to them both inside and outside the classroom, always giving of her time and expertise.”
Kelly will be presented with the 2009 ASIS&T Teacher of the Year Award at a special ceremony at the association’s annual conference this November in Vancouver, British Columbia.