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 In honor of Dr. Anthony Debons’ illustrious
career, leading scholars in the field of Information
Science have contributed to a Festschrift. The
book, “Perspectives on Information Science” will
be introduced on Friday, November 9, 2007 from 2:00-4:30
p.m. on the Fifth Floor on the Information Sciences Building. Additionally,
attendees will receive a signed copy of the book for
every $15 donation to the Anthony Debons Fund. This
event is being presented in conjunction with i-fest 2007.
The Festschrift incorporates articles and tributes from
colleagues, former students, and SIS faculty who have
had the honor of working with Dr. Debons. Topics covered
range from ethics and policy issues for information professionals
to spatial information science to designing voice applications
for visually impaired or physically handicapped users. The
Festschrift will be made available to the public and
proceeds will benefit the Anthony Debons Award, The Anthony
Debons Award is presented annually to an undergraduate
student for outstanding contributions to the Bachelor
of Science in Information Science program. Authors of
contributions to the Festschrift include:
- Toni Carbo, Professor, School of Information Sciences,
University of Pittsburgh
- Scott Cronenweth, MSIS alum, 1983, Freelance Copywriter
- Thomas J. Froehlich, Professor, School of Library
and Information Sciences, Kent State University
- Stephen C. Hirtle, Professor School of Information
Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Forest Woody Horton, PhD, Consultant for global information
literacy (UNESCO)
- Allen Kent, Distinguished Professor, School of Information
Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Donald W. King, MS, Research Professor, School of
Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Kai A. Olsen, MS, Professor, Informatics, Molde College,
Norway and Adjunct Professor at SIS
- Wichian Premchaiswadi, PhD, Assistant President,
Siam University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Per. Saetre, MS, Associate Professor, Informatics,
Molde College, Norway
- Michael B. Spring, PhD, Associate Professor, School
of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Christinger Tomer, PhD, Associate Professor, School
of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- James G. Williams, PhD, Professor Emeritus, School
of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- John A. Wise, PhD, CPE, Principal Scientist Human
Centered Systems, Honeywell AES
- Mark A. Wise, PhD. AHFP, Usability and Human Factors,
IBM
Dr. Anthony Debons, born in Malta on April 16, 1916,
immigrated to the United States in 1923 and became a
citizen in 1941. He served in World War II, and
saw action in both the Battle of Britain and the Battle
of the Bulge. Following the war, the army detailed
him to complete his undergraduate work at Brooklyn College. After
the Korean War, he completed a PhD in experimental psychology
at Columbia University in 1954 and held a number of posts
working on visual displays, command and control systems
and decision support systems before he retired from the
military ten years later.
He began his second career in 1964 as a professor and
chair of the Psychology Department at the University
of Dayton where he became the first chairman of the Department
of Information Science in 1967. Then, in 1968,
he moved to the University of Pittsburgh as Vice Chairman
followed by Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Department
of Information Sciences.
Since Dr. Debons’ retirement in 1986, he has held
several visiting professorships internationally. When
not in residence at other universities, he continues
to work and produce scholarly materials at the School
of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. |
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