PITT'S SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCES ANNOUNCES FACULTY ADDITIONS

August 24, 2001

PITTSBURGH—Dean Toni Carbo of the School of Information Sciences (SIS) at the University of Pittsburgh has announced three new faculty appointments.

Karen Gracy, who joins the Department of Library and Information Sciences, has an interdisciplinary background spanning film scholarship, archival studies, and policy studies on the preservation of and access to knowledge. She earned the A.B. degree in English and French from the University of California at Berkeley, and the master's degrees in both in film and television, and library and information and science, and the Ph.D. degree in library and information science, all from UCLA. She has lectured at the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, and was lead instructor for the Information and Technology Workshop, Department of Information Studies, at UCLA.

Robert Perkoski, who joins the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications, will direct the School's undergraduate program, a responsibility he has held on an interim basis for the past year. During that time, Perkoski implemented a number of recommendations, revitalized the undergraduate student organization, revisited the curriculum, increased requirements for entry into the program, and implemented several innovative programs for improved service to undergraduate students. Perkoski, former director of placement at Pitt, earned the bachelor's degree in psychology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, the master's degree in education from Slippery Rock University, and the master's degree in information science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Vladimir Zadorozhny, who has an exceptionally strong database background and considerable experience in software engineering, also joins the Department of Information Science and Telecommunications. He has the master's degree in computer science from the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, and the Ph.D. degree from the Institute for Problems of Informatics, Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Prior to joining SIS, he was an assistant research scientist in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. He has lectured at the University of Maryland, the Moscow State University, and the SUN Authorized Training Center REDLAB in Moscow.

The appointments of Zadorozhny, Gracy, and Perkoski are in addition to those recently announced for Jose-Marie Griffiths to the Doreen E. Boyce Chair of Library and Information Science, and Donald King, as research professor.

The School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh educates information professionals for a wide range of specializations in the information field. The School's focus is on the integration of people, knowledge, and technology for decision making, problem solving, and learning. SIS offers six degrees and three certificate programs in the areas of telecommunications, information science, and library and information science. The internationally renowned faculty is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service.

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