Graves and Moeller Receive AI Task Force Award
Awards and Nominations
Gwen Gray Receives Business Librarianship Award
Gwen Gray, research librarian, business, economics and entrepreneurship is the 2025 winner for the BRASS Excellence in Business Librarianship Award. BRASS is the Business Reference and Services Section of the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.
Jaya Ghosh, program director of the MU Coulter Biomedical Accelerator, stated in her nomination letter, “Through her contributions to MU’s translational research funding, training and mentorship programs and other entrepreneurial offerings such as the regional I-Corps Program (advisor), MU EQ
Student Accelerator (mentor), Mizzou Venture Mentoring Service (mentor) and Entrepreneurship Workshop Series (mentor), Gwen’s work significantly enhances the innovation and entrepreneurship capacity of MU, and by extension of Missouri and the U.S. at large.”
Gwen’s contributions include supporting entrepreneurial initiatives at local and national levels, fostering community partnerships, supporting student success, and providing professional mentorship to LIS students. Gwen has dedicated years of her career to develop and strengthen networks that have created long-lasting impacts on her community and the broader profession.
Gwen stated, “I am humbled to receive the BRASS Excellence in Business Librarianship Award and am deeply grateful to LSEG Data & Analytic and RUSA for this recognition. Many thanks to the committee for selecting me to receive this honor. I’ve had wonderful support throughout my career at the Mizzou Libraries and would like to especially note Rhonda Whithaus and Jeannette Pierce who (unbeknownst to me) spearheaded the nomination effort. They along with so many of my colleagues have been supportive and encouraging, giving me the freedom to explore and go in new directions. I would also like to recognize Doug Moesel, associate professor of management, who started my work in entrepreneurship by inviting me to join a campus committee on the topic in 2004. Greg Bier, executive director of Entrepreneurship Programs, has been a tireless champion of librarians, making sure the entrepreneurship ecosystem knows our value. Thank you to all the faculty, staff, students and community members not named (and there are many) who have made me better than I would be on my own. Thank you again for this honor.”
Congratulations to Gwen!
Librarians Serve on Award-Winning AI Task Force
Rebecca Graves and Kimberly Moeller served on the MU Task Force on Artificial Intelligence in the Learning Environment. MU Faculty Council on University Policy awarded this task force the group category of its Shared Governance Award.
Comments from the nomination include: The Task Force’s efforts to make sure faculty and staff have a seat at the table (and a head seat at that) in the development of AI-related policies and training modules exemplify this award’s dedication to inclusive and participatory governance. I am inclined to nominate this group for the Shared Governance Group Award not just because they formed in the spirit of shared governance, met, did careful research, and wrote a detailed report, but because their work was received by administration and has resulted in actual policy implementation.
In the spirit of shared governance, this award will be presented at the Spring 2025 General Faculty Meeting, Wednesday, April 2nd, at 3:30 pm at the Missouri State Historical Society.
Graves Receives Honorary Alumni Award from School of Nursing
Rebecca Graves will receive an honorary alumni award at the School of Nursing’s award ceremony on April 25, 2025.
Since 1966 the Sinclair School of Nursing has recognized outstanding alumni for their achievements in nursing. On Friday,
Rebecca S. Graves serves as the educational services librarian at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library at MU, where she has profoundly impacted the Sinclair School of Nursing through her dedication to research, education and student success. A leader in library instruction, evidence-based medicine and systematic reviews, she empowers nursing and other health care students through expert research support and innovative teaching.
Congratulations, Rebecca!
In the News
“Paula Roper named MLA Outstanding Professional Librarian”
Show Me Mizzou, November 6, 2024
Congratulations to Paula Roper, Winner of MLA Outstanding Professional Librarian
Dr. Paula Roper was named Outstanding Professional Librarian at the 2024 Missouri Library Association Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. First awarded in 2017, the Outstanding Professional Librarian Award recognizes a librarian with an MLS or MLIS degree who has made a significant contribution to the improvement and advancement of library and information services. Nominees must have at least five years post- MLS/MLIS work in the library profession.
Dr. Paula Roper has worked for University of Missouri Libraries for nearly 40 years, beginning her career at Ellis Library as part of the inaugural MU postgraduate “Intern-Scholar Program” in 1986. During her time at Ellis, Dr. Roper has worked closely with the MU School of Education and the Black Studies Department to aid both students and faculty, from the early days of online catalogs to the current challenges of navigating AI software. She has also advocated for the Library’s involvement across campus, including large, public events like Black History Month programming and National History Day. Her experience, knowledge, and drive is valued by both her library colleagues and the faculty at her liaison departments. As one of her colleagues puts it, Dr. Roper “encourag[es] and valu[es] her less experienced colleagues, spurring us to get out of our academic comfort zone, and embrace the power we have, as architects of ‘extracurricular curriculum’.”
Congratulations to Amanda Sprochi
Amanda Sprochi received a CORE Presidential Citation for her work as chair of the the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access. The Cataloging Description and Access Committee is critical to the library profession, but over these last years has suffered from a vacuum in leadership. This year Amanda jumped in to serve as chair without much notice and was able to lead this committee back to strength. The Core Board is grateful for her leadership.