CLIR Press Release
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release May 19, 2000
Contact: Deanna Marcum 202-939-4750
Council on Library and Information Resources Names 2000 A. R. Zipf Fellow
Washington, D.C.Deanna Marcum, president of the Council on Library and Information Resources, announced today that the 2000 A. R. Zipf Fellowship in Information Management has been awarded to Rich Gazan, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Gazan is the fourth recipient of the Zipf Fellowship, which was established in 1997 to recognize a graduate student who shows exceptional promise for leadership and technical achievement in information management. Mr. Zipf, who passed away on January 1 of this year, had a longstanding interest in helping students and young professionals who pursue training in library science.
Mr. Gazan began doctoral study at UCLA in 1999 after completing an MLIS in Library and Information Science at the University of Hawaii. His research interests include information retrieval, database design, and the information industry, with a particular focus on integrating content from disparate sources. In the decade before beginning his Ph.D. work, he served in a variety of professional positions, including technical writer at Citicorp, systems analyst and database editor at Information Access Co. (now The Gale Group), librarian at the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, and information scientist at SilverPlatter Information.
Martin M. Cummings, chairman of the Zipf Selection Committee and former director of the National Library of Medicine, said, “Mr. Gazan has an outstanding combination of technical skills, business knowledge, and leadership qualities. I am pleased that this year’s recipient comes from UCLA, where Mr. Zipf developed his plan for the first computer to successfully automate the massive check processing system used in the banking industry.”
A. R. Zipf was a pioneer in information management systems and a guiding force in many of the dramatic technological changes that occurred in the banking industry over the course of his forty-year career with the Bank of America.
The Council on Library and Information Resources works in partnership with libraries, archives, and other information providers to strengthen the many components of the nation’s information system and to support institutions as they integrate audiovisual and digital resources and services into their well-established print-based environments.
