CHAPEL HILL - School of Information and Library Science (SILS) distinguished alumnus and member of the SILS Board of Visitors, Dr. Fred Roper (MSLS '62), has been elected to serve on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Board of Visitors.

Dr. Roper is distinguished dean emeritus of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina (USC) where he served as dean for 17 years. Dr. Roper has been active in the Medical Library Association (president in 1994/95, fellow, recipient of the Marcia C. Noyes Award and a Janet Doe Lecturer in 2005), the Special Libraries Association (serving on the SLA Board of Directors, a recipient of the John Cotton Dana Award, inducted into the SLA Hall of Fame and a SLA Fellow), Association for Libraries and Information Science Education (serving on the ALISE Board of Directors), and the American Library Association (serving on both the ALA Council and the Committee on Accreditation). Dr. Roper received his M.S. in Library Science (as well as an AB in English) from the University of North Carolina and the Ph.D. in Library Science at Indiana University. He is co-author of Introduction to References Sources in Health Sciences and many other publications.

He is the immediate past chair of the SILS Board of Visitors and currently serves as a member of the Board as well as co-chair (with Sarah Snow) of the School's 80th Anniversary Planning Committee. Dr. Roper is a former faculty member of SILS and was appointed assistant dean of SILS in 1977 and served as associate dean of SILS from 1982 to 1986 when he accepted the position of dean at USC.

"Fred is an excellent selection for this appointment," said Dr. Gary Marchionini, dean of SILS and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor. "He has been devoted to the university and to SILS for many years, continuously representing us in a positive light. He is a distinguished alumnus who is first to raise his hand whenever or wherever he is needed. The Board of Trustees did the university a service by selecting Dr. Roper."   
 
About the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors 

The UNC at Chapel Hill "Board of Visitors is an active group of volunteers, assisting the Board of Trustees and Chancellor in a range of activities that help advance the University, including public relations, government relations and fund raising. But most important, Board of Visitors members serve as ambassadors, informing members of their communities about what is going on at Carolina and, in turn, keeping the University administration informed about what they are hearing about Carolina in their communities."

There UNC at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors include 160 members each of whom serve a four-year term. As members leave, the university's Board of Trustees elects 40 new members. Trustees formally elect a new class of members during the spring meeting.

For a list of the University's Board of Visitors, or for more information, please go to the Web page at: http://www.unc.edu/bov/directory.htm


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Wanda Monroe
Director of Communications
School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
100 Manning Hall, CB 3360
Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3360
Phone: 919-843-8337
Web: sils.unc.edu
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