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Colleagues, It is my sad duty to inform you that our esteemed colleague George D'Elia passed away yesterday after a long illness. George D'Elia, AB in History 1966, MLS 1967, PhD in LIS 1975, all Rutgers University, MS in Statistics, Syracuse 1977, joined what is now the Department of Library and Information Studies, Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo in 1995. He started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the School of Information Studies, University of Syracuse (1973-1976), then joined the Library School, University of Minnesota where he served as Director 1982-1985, and from 1985-1995 taught in the Information and Decision Sciences Department, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. His research and teaching interests were focused on the identification and understanding of the information needs of library users, the design of information systems and services to meet these needs and the evaluation of these systems and services, and the Internet-public library relationship. He was an expert on using quantitative method, primarily surveys, to shed light on these questions through a number of funded projects. He also worked with 36 public library systems as a consultant dealing with community needs assessment, strategic planning, service delivery, marketing, and staff development. In 2003, George D'Elia, along with co-investigators, Joseph Woelfel and Corine Jorgensen, were awarded the Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Public Research from the American Library Association's Library Research Round Table for their study, "The Impact of the Internet on Public Library Use" which was published in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology in 2002. He was a caring adviser and a beloved teacher who guided students to think. His research and working with the students were a big part of his life. He was ever ready with thoughtful advise to his colleagues. He was a mainstay of the department. We mourn his loss. The department will establish the George D'Elia Scholarship Fund, contributions should be made to the University at Buffalo Foundation, 534 Baldy Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14260-1020. From the Buffalo News Sept. 17, 2010 D'Elia - George P. September 16, 2010, beloved husband of Bette Holtzman; devoted father of Hannah and Elizabeth; dear brother of Anthony (Doreen) D'Elia and Joan (Al) Knoll. A Memorial Service will be held at the Amherst Memorial Chapel, 281 Dodge Rd, Sunday at 2 PM. Memorials in George's memory to CARE or the charity of your choice.