Dr. Barbara B. Moran, professor, School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been appointed the first Louis Round Wilson Distinguished Professor effective July 1, 2010.
The professorship is the result of a gift from the estate of the School’s founder, Louis Round Wilson, and matching funds from the state of North Carolina. The gift of $374,077.89 was presented during a special ceremony in March 2005 by Wilson’s grandsons, Dean Edmonds III and Louis Round Wilson Edmonds. Matching funds totaling $167,000 were later added through the Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust Fund, established in 1985 to create endowed chairs by the North Carolina General Assembly.
“This professorship was made possible by the Wilson family in memory of their grandfather who founded the School and dedicated his career to librarianship,” said Dr. Gary Marchionini, dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor. “Because of this extraordinary generosity, we were able to create the School’s first endowed professorship. We are fortunate to have Barbara Moran already on our faculty as an internationally recognized leader in academic libraries and an obvious heir to the Louis Round Wilson and Ed Holley legacies of library scholarship at UNC.”
Moran joined the faculty at SILS in 1981 and previously held the position of dean at the School from 1990 to 1998. During her tenure as dean, she added an undergraduate minor program and increased graduate enrollment by 32 percent. She enhanced technical resources, hired the School’s first development director, established the first Board of Visitors and doubled the School’s endowment. She increased the international involvement of SILS and began the very successful Oxford and Prague Summer Seminars. In May of 2009, she was appointed to the position of interim dean while the search for a new dean took place.
Moran has been an active member of the SILS faculty continuing her teaching and research. She has taught primarily in the areas of management and academic librarianship and her research has focused on various aspects of management including leadership, organizational structures and career progression patterns. In addition, she continues to direct the School’s international programs where she has expanded the global outreach of SILS, most recently developing a new program to London, England. She co-wrote the textbook, Library and Information Center Management among others. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chapel Hill Public Library and as a member of the Board of Governors of the UNC Press.
In honor of Dr. Moran’s appointment as Louis Round Wilson Distinguished Professor, the School will host a special event on September 17, 2010. The celebration will take place in the Pleasants Family Room of the Wilson Library at 2 p.m. The Honorable Robert Martin, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; professor emeritus, School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman's University; and SILS alumnus, will provide the keynote address, which is titled, "Louis Round Wilson: The Man and His Legacy." A reception will immediately follow. The event is free and open to the public.
