Biography/History

The Department of Library Science was made a department in the School of Education in 1956, with Donald Woods as chairperson. The Department of Library Science was transferred from the School of Education to the College of Letters & Science in 1965. The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents authorized the creation of the School of Library and Information Science in February 1966, and in the fall, the first graduate library science program began. The first official library science degrees from SLIS were bestowed in June 1967. From 1966 until 1970 the school offered two programs: Master of Arts in Library Science and Master of Science in Information Science. The information science degree was integrated into the library science degree in 1973, and the school was renamed the School of Library Science. The school received ALA accreditation in July 1976. In spring 1981, the program became the School of Library and Information Science once again. In February 1984, the school's master's degree was officially changed to Master of Library and Information Science. The school began offering a bachelor's degree in Information Studies and a bachelor's degree in Science and Information Resources in 1995. In 2001, the school changed its name once more, this time to the School of Information Studies.

Chairs, Directors, and Deans of the School and its Predecessors

1956-1961	Donald A. Woods (Department Chair)
1962-1965	Eloise Rue (Department Chair)
1965-1966	Rachel Schenk (Acting Director)
1966-1971	Frank Schick (Director)
1971-1974	Robert Little (Acting Director)
1974-1976	Doralyn Hickey (Director)
1976-1977	Doralyn Hickey (Dean)
1977-1979	Frederick Olson (Acting Dean)
1979-2002	Mohammed Aman (Dean)
2002-2005	Thomas A. Walker (Interim Dean)
2005-2010	Johannes Britz (Dean)
2010-2011	Hope A. Olson (Interim Dean)
2011-2012	Dietmar Wolfram (Interim Dean)
2012-2014	Wooseob Jeong (Interim Dean)
2014-2020	Tomas A. Lipinski
2020-	Mark Harris (Interim Dean)