Families and friends packed Meany Hall on June 7 to proudly watch their graduate receive an ISchool degree: Bachelor of Science in Informatics, Master of Science in Information Management, Master of Library and Information Science, or Ph.D. in Information Science.
Dean Harry Bruce welcomed the crowd by saying, "You are a special graduating class - you are our centennial graduates of the iSchool. I know that you will do and achieve remarkable things that today we can only imagine. I know this because we have a long history of graduates achieving remarkable things. You can now add your name to the thousands of other alumni who have graduated over the last 100 years. You will always be a member of the iSchool community!"
Before entering the hall, graduates proceeded along a purple carpet on Red Square that was flanked by 100 iSchool alumni recruited from each iSchool graduating year from 1949 through 2011. Each new graduate was pinned by an alumni member and warmly welcomed into their ranks.
Professor Mike Eisenberg gave the keynote address. Eisenberg, who joined the UW in 1998 coined the term iSchool which is now used by 39 schools in 11 countries. As the first dean, he transformed the School of Library and Information Science into an independent Information School in 2001, adding three degree programs in the process.
Eisenberg told the audience his students would know that the answer to almost all questions is people.
"People are the beginning and the end of everything we do in the information field. We seek to resolve or help people to resolve for themselves "information problems" or the information side of problems. A problem isn't a negative, it's just a gap or a need - something to be resolved."
He went on to offer his view of the field and the true pedigree of the degrees these graduates earned.
"I've heard some say the information field is simply the intersection of other fields - computer science, business, communication, social science. But, I disagree," remarked Eisenberg.
"Because, while we draw on knowledge and skills from these disciplines, we are not simply a crossroads. In fact, we might say that our field predates all of these fields - going back to the very beginning of human civilization."
The ceremony included the presentation of awards to six students who were nominated by their peers or recognized by program faculty. Those included:
21st Century Award (presented on behalf of the MLIS student body): Sarah Caldwell
The Archer Award (presented on behalf of the MSIM student body): Smritilekha Das
The Eisenberg Award (presented on behalf of the Informatics student body): Chris Mathews
The Ruth Wordon Award for Student Excellence in Library and Information Science (presented by the iSchool faculty to an MLIS student): Isaac Pattis
The Faculty Award for Student Excellence in Information Management (presented by the iSchool Faculty to an MSIM student): Deborah Schumacher
The Faculty Award for Student Excellence in Informatics (presented by the iSchool faculty to an Informatics student): Matthew Hicks