The iSchool pays tribute to Peter Hiatt, who was appointed director of the University of Washington Graduate Library School in 1974 and retired in 1998 as professor emeritus.

His many accomplishments at the UW included formulating and implementing a change in curriculum for the school’s two-year master's degree program in the fall of 1979. At the time, the UW and UCLA were the only schools in the nation to offer a two-year master of librarianship program. The curriculum change addressed the impact of new technologies on libraries and expanded the number and depth of specialties available to students. It also shifted the emphasis from the library as an institution to the users of library services, focusing on information transfer and delivery of services.

Hiatt’s obituary notes that throughout his career, he believed publicly-supported libraries were social change agencies. He believed strongly in the democratizing influences of their free services and did what he could to protect them against economic and social shifts to privatization, or fees for services.

He was very active in professional library associations, editorial boards of professional journals, and other groups at national, state, and local levels. He served terms as president of the American Library Association's Library Education Division, and as president of ALA's Adult Services Division. In 1979, he was the recipient of the "Outstanding Service Award" from the Association of American Library Schools. He was the chief investigator of two research grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in the use of assessment centers for professional development. He served two terms, from 1990-97, as a board member, and for a time as board president of King County Library System's Board of Trustees.