Candidate for the Office of
Vice President [President-Elect]

Dr. Mohammed M. Aman

Dean, School of Library and Information Science
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Statement of Presidency Intent

Dean Mohammed M. Aman, received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1968 and his MLS from Columbia University in 1965. He has been the Dean of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee since 1979 and prior to that he was Dean of the School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, and Chair then Director of the Division of Library and Information Science of St. John's University. In addition to his long career in administration, Dr. Aman has been an active professor in the LIS field, achieving full professorship while at St. John's in the early 1970s. Dr. Aman has been an active consultant in the field, providing service for UNESCO, the USIA, USAID, and recently, for the International Jury for the selection of the design of the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt.

He has been active in numerous professional organizations in the field of Library and Information Science, including ALA, IFLA, ALISE, ACRL, ASIS, USBBY, and WLA (the Wisconsin Library Association). Dean Aman has held many offices in these organizations, such as Chair of ALA’s IRRT, Chair of the IRC, member of IFLA's section on Library education, and Chair of ALISE's International Education Committee, and Library Careers Committee Chair of the WLA, among numerous others.

Dean Aman's dedication to sharing information in the global society is proven by his lectures, consultancies, and directorship of LIS training programs in such places as Mexico, China, Germany, the Middle East, and Africa. The SLIS at UWM has proven itself, under Dr. Aman's leadership, to be a true leader in LIS education, receiving numerous awards and international recognition.

Dean Aman's recognition alone has drawn such awards as the Professor Kaula Endowment's Medal and Citation, the Award of Excellence and the Leadership Award from the Black Caucus of the ALA, the James Ames Humphry OCLC/Forest Press Award, the Award of Service from ALISE, WLA, and many other national and international award and recognition. A prolific author, Dean Aman has published more than ten books and over 100 articles, and numerous technical reports; he has supervised many dissertations and has been active in university activities for years. Recently, Dean Aman has founded the Leader's Forum and the Arab-Jewish Dialogue, both active civic groups in the Milwaukee area.

From my varied experiences, I will bring to the ALISE presidency new and innovative ideas. I will focus on developing strong international relationships, and I will pursue vigorously closer relationships with information professionals associations not closely associated with ALISE before. I will provide the leadership to continue ALISE'S involvement in the NII and the shaping of our national information policy, which hopefully will become a model for other countries to follow. I will establish a forum within ALISE for those involved in LIS programs at the undergraduate level. I will promote and support quality and multidisciplinary research that is responsive to the changing dimensions of our discipline.

During my presidency, I will work with the membership to bring all the foregoing ideas and programs to fruition.