History
The iSchool was founded in 1965 with Paul Wasserman as its first dean. Wasserman, a former military man who was part of the Invasion of Normandy, held the post for 5 years. Wasserman was very supportive of research and the school became the first Information School to require a technology course. Wasserman saw technology as a tool for information management. Wasserman was a librarian, and his broad vision helped the program get on its feet. He was constantly traveling and recruiting international faculty members and students. Wasserman would later write an autobiography which is available at McKeldin Library. The school's original name was the School of Library and Information Services and by 1972 it had established its location in Hornbake Library's South Wing. The school attained full accreditation from the American Library Association (it has never lost its accreditation) in 1966 and the first PhD students were in 1967.
In 1991 the school had a major crisis as it was very close to being shut down.
In 1993 Ann Prentice became dean of the school. During this time period the University of Maryland's Provost prompted a general review of the school and a reexamination of the goals and mission statement. The Provost wanted to promote more innovation, creation, research and services. Therefore, the school went through significant changes as the MLS curriculum was revised and the school started to morph into what it is now, an iSchool. Bruce Dearstyne took over as Interim Dean in 2001, after Prentice retired, and the transformation continued under his leadership. His signature initiative was introduction of the Master of Information Management program (MIM). In 2005, Jennifer Preece became Dean. Under Preece, the MIM program has grown substantially. In the 2007 school year the MIM program had its highest student body count at 149. In addition, under Preece's directorship, a new master's program was added, Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction.
Read more about this topic: University Of Maryland College Of Information Studies
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