Alumni Updates
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Robbe Sokolove
M.Lib, 1979
Robbe retired from public librarianship after 30 years, and is now volunteering for the American Red Cross as a Restoring Family Links Client Caseworker.
Bill Williams
M.Lib, 1979
Bill is the Chief of the Center for Cryptologic History at the National Security Agency.
Sheila Hosner
M.Lib, 1978
Sheila reports: "Since 2018, I have been working with a community in the Bududa District of eastern Uganda to help them build a Health Center III, the Bukobero Community Health Centre. We have installed the 30,000 liter water system, purchased land, graded the site, and completed all the plans. We expect to break ground in October 2022! This will be the first health center in this sub county in over 12 years!"
Nancy Magnuson
M.Lib, 1978
Nancy Magnuson, college librarian at Goucher College, retired June 30, 2017. The college honored her 30 years service in that position with the John Franklin Goucher Medal. Her 40-year career included positions at Haverford College, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and King County Library System. She served on many ALA and ACRL committees and was honored as a notable alumna of the University of Washington iSchool in 2011. Other accomplishments include the Goucher Athenaeum, honored by Library Journal in 2012 as its No. 1 New Landmark Library, and development of the Peirce Center and other initiatives to promote the use of the college's special collections.
James Murray
M.Lib, 1978
James retired on December 26, 2014. For the past 17.5 years he worked for the Ninth Circuit Library headquartered in San Francisco, California, with his duty-station located in Spokane, WA, as the Branch Librarian assigned to work with judges and court staff within the Eastern District of Washington.
He retired with more than 40 years of training, experience, teaching, and practice as a member of the Washington State Bar Association and as a law librarian. Prior to his work for the Ninth Circuit, he worked at the University of Texas at Austin as a Reserve and Reference Librarian, at Washington University in St. Louis as the Associate Law Librarian, at Gonzaga University School of Law as the Director of the Law Library, and as the director of the East Bonner County Free Library District in Sandpoint, ID. His retirement plans include travel, volunteer work, and expanding upon his knowledge of automation and computers.
Linda Pierce
M.Lib, 1978
Linda works as an Associate Professor and Collection Development Librarian at Gonzaga University. In 2013, Linda was Gonzaga's first librarian to be elected by the faculty to serve a three-year term as a Faculty Regent.
Bob Pringle
M.Lib, 1978
After 35 years of service with Washington State University, in June 2015 Bob will retire from his job as the Director of Nursing and Spokane Academic Library Services at WSU.
Rivkah Sass
M.Lib, 1978
Rivkah is executive director of the Sacramento Public Library. Its Design Spot and Library of Things were prominently featured in the New York Times in September 2015 in an article titled "These Public Libraries Are for Snowshoes and Ukeleles."
Kathleen Sidwell
MLIS, 1978
Kathleen was retired as of 2023. She reports: "Thanks to the UW iSchool (in my time the Library School) for giving me the skills that helped me stay employed with interesting jobs. From editing, research and database work in real estate appraising offices to writing and editing policies and procedures in a hospital, and starting my own copyediting company, I always enjoyed my work and felt valued by employers. I am now retired, but still have projects to work on."
Maryruth Storer
M.Lib, 1978
After 40 years as a professional law librarian, Maryruth retired in August 2018. For the past 30 years, she served as the Director of the Orange County Public Law Library in Santa Ana, California.