From The Miami Hurricane:
Dean of Libraries Bill Walker never intended to become a librarian.
“I came to libraries through the back door,” he said.
In the early ‘70s, Walker was pursuing a master’s degree in French at the University of Michigan. Desperate for cash, he began working for the Taubman Health Sciences Library at the School of Dentistry. At the time, it was the highest paid position available to students.
But Walker was soon captivated by the work and switched his master’s from French to library sciences.
“They were just starting to automate the medical literature and I just loved the idea that you could take this body of knowledge and automate it and make it searchable,” he said.
Now, almost four decades later, Walker is stepping down from his post as the dean of libraries at the end of the spring semester. His last day will be May 31, 2013. When he leaves, Walker will have worked for the university for 10 years.
A committee is currently being assembled to appoint his replacement, who will begin work June 1.
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Once he leaves, Walker will pursue personal endeavors.
“I’ve been doing administration for 35 years,” he said. “It’s time to do some projects.”
He first plans to spend more time learning about the relationship between libraries and computer science.
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