CURRENT STUDENTS

The GSLIS honors outstanding students with five awards during its June graduation, including (1) the Laurie Fisher Memorial Award for Academic Excellence, (2) the Karen Patricia Smith Award, (3) the Karen Ruzycki Award for Exceptional Services, (4) the Lucille Thomas Outstanding Future School Librarian Award, and (5) the Professor David Cohen Multicultural Award. The GSLIS Admissions, Academic Standing and Student Affairs (AASSA) Committee will request nominations for these awards from the full faculty in each spring semester. All nominations will be reviewed by the AASSA Committee, which will present qualified nominees to the full faculty for consideration and final selection. GSLIS students may also be interested in applying for GSLIS scholarships.

Laurie Fisher Memorial Award for Academic Excellence

GSLIS initiated this award in 1977. It is funded by the Laurie Fisher Memorial Endowment Fund, established by the Krumholz family in memory of their daughter Mrs. Loretta Fisher who graduated from the program in 1969. Mrs. Fisher’s specialization was school media, and she was a school librarian at Public School 9 in Brooklyn.

The award is given annually to the graduate who has achieved the highest grade point average (GPA) and exhibited superior intellectual ability in the program.

Past Recipients:

2025: Bridget McCarthy
2024: Margaret Gleberman
2023: Marisa Kuras
2022: Mary MacLeod
2021: Jennifer Grunenberg and Allison Laplatney
2020: Scott Lipkowitz
2019: Elizabeth Allen
2018: Gina Baldwin
2017: Edward Houghton
2016: Allison Quinn
2015: Christina Marie Harlow
2014: Jill Wylie
2013: Adam Finger
2012: Lauren Aaronson
2011: Alisa Surkis
2010: Erin Albritton

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Karen P. Smith Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award

Dr. Karen P. Smith, a retired GSLIS professor, established this award in 2009 to be given annually to a graduating student who has demonstrated evidence of scholarly commitment and excellence in children’s and/or young adult literature.

Past Recipients:

2025: Grace Coyne
2024: Christina Coyne
2023: Amy Mcabee
2022: Rebecca Breslaw
2021: Maria del Carmen Penas-Barrio
2020: Latoya Galloway
2019: Ivonne Cintron
2018: Melissa Koszer
2017: Karin Greenberg
2016: Migiwa Spiller
2015: Christopher Bergendorff
2014: Heidi Raia
2013: Emily B. Corvelle
2012: Darla Gutierrez
2011: Mirele Davis
2010: Susie Cowan

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Karen A. Ruzycki Award for Exceptional Service

This award recognizes a student who has shown dedication to their studies and has significantly and positively assisted other students during their academic career at the GSLIS.

Past Recipients:

2025: Wilhelmine Coste, Betty Noe
2024: Toni Nicosia
2023: Allison Giese
2022: Aimee Lusty
2021: Maggie Leung
2020: Elle Hauschen
2019: Debra Grech
2018: Regina Carra
2017: Obden Mondesir
2016: Sarah Rose and Ashley Bressingham
2015: Maeghan Dolan, Jacqueline Quinn, Alexis Sandler, and Rebecca Worthington
2014: Deborah Kinirons
2013: Rebecca A. Weintraub
2012: Corinne Klee
2011: Howard Ngai

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Lucille Thomas Outstanding Future School Librarian Award

This award is named to honor Lucille Cole Thomas, a former instructor in GSLIS, for her extraordinary contributions to the passion for learning of children and youth, for her untiring advocacy for school libraries, and for giving us School Library Media Day and National School Library Media Month.

This award recognizes the library media specialist graduate who best exemplifies pro-activity in practice and academic merit.

Past Recipients:

2025: Carmen Delcid
2024: Ramon Carela
2023: Evan Denaro
2022: Mei Choong
2021: Melissa Hohl
2020: Elias Hetko
2019: Alexandra Civorelli
2018: Kyra Wolfe
2017: Debra Brass
2016: Caitlin Smith
2015: Krista Berg
2014: Samantha Scarinci
2013: Paige Cullen
2012: Judith Schwartz
2011: Jillian Rudes
2010: Elizabeth Schneider

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David Cohen Multicultural Award

David Cohen, a native New Yorker, received the Masters in Library Science and the Certificate in Advanced Librarianship from Columbia University. Professor Cohen’s contributions to the field have embraced a career of over fifty years of practice, teaching, formal presentations, and research. As a tireless pioneer in multicultural librarianship, David Cohen has raised the consciousness of his fellow professionals about the need to serve all the peoples of our ethnically and culturally diverse society.

This award is presented to the graduate who has demonstrated the greatest promise in fulfilling the principles of multiculturalism within the library and information science profession.

Past Recipients:

2025: Gianna Fraccalvieri
2024: Josselyn Atahualpa
2023: Frances Julia Keiser
2022: Vanessa d'Eglidio
2021: Maggie Leung
2020: Elle Hauschen
2019: Iesha Irish
2018: Sheena Philogene
2017: Jacquiline Yu
2016: Kimberly Bullock
2015: Salma Islam
2014: Alexandra Dolan-Mescal
2013: Tamika R. Nichols
2012: Amber Sroka
2011: Natalie Milbrodt
2010: Elizabeth Lindsay

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Alum of the Year Award

This award is presented to an alumnus who, as a professional librarian, has made a significant contribution to the field and who represents the highest ideals of the profession.

Selection: The GSLIS AASSA Committee will request nominations for this award from the full faculty and GSLIS alumni community in each spring semester. All nominations will be reviewed by the AASSA Committee, which will present qualified nominees to the full faculty for consideration and final selection. The award recipient will be officially announced during the GSLIS graduation ceremony in June. A person may receive this award only once in her/his lifetime.

Past Recipients:

2025: Szilvia Szmuk-Tanenbaum. Independent scholar in Digital Humanities, , creating the websites Comedias Sueltas USA
2024: Raymond Pun, academic and research librarian at the Alder Graduate School of Education
2023: Arlene Laverde, Townsend Harris High School, NYC; Past President of New York Library Association (NYLA) and Past President of New York City School Librarians’ Association (NYCSLA)
2022: Kristin Hart, University Dean of Libraries and Information Resources, The City University of New York
2021: Shauntee Burns-Simpson, Manager of School Outreach for the New York Public Library, President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
2020: Natalie Milbrodt, Director of Queens Memory, Coordinator of Metadata Services at Queens Public Library
2019: Simone Yearwood, Interim Associate Dean and Chief Librarian of Queens College Library
2018: Linda Cooper, Professor Emerita in GSLIS
2017: Frank McKenna, Director of Seaford Public Library, Seaford, NY
2016: Michael Cogswell, founding Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum
2015: Melissa Jacobs, Director of Library Services for the New York City Department of Education/New York City School Library System
2014: Constantia Constantinou, Vice Provost and Director of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries
2013: Thomas W. Galante, Library Director and Chief Executive Officer at Queens Public Library
2012: Edward K. Owusu-Ansah, Dean of David & Lorraine Cheng Library, William Paterson University of New Jersey
2011: Olga Nesi, librarian at the Edward B. Shallow Junior High School in Brooklyn, former coordinator for the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Library Services
2010: Katherine Killoran, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
2009: Stephanie Rosalia, Teacher/Librarian at the Bay School, New York, NY
2008: James L. Farrell, Jr., Director at Ossining Public Library, Ossining, NY
2007: Susan Hess, formerly library media specialist at Juan Morel Campos Intermediate School 71, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
2006: Andrew Jackson, Executive Director at Queens Library's Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center, GSLIS adjunct faculty
2005: Joyce Valenza, Associate Teaching Professor of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University
2004: Jeanne Lamb, Coordinator of Youth Collections at the New York Public Library
2003: Sheila S. Intner, author, Professor Emerita in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College
2002: N/A
2001: Anne J. Hoffman, formerly Chief Librarian at the Donnell Library Center, New York, NY
2000: Dana Gordon, formerly Deputy Director of Newsweek Research Center
1999: Barbara Kwasnik, Professor Emerita in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University
1998: Arthur Friedman, Reference Librarian at Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY
1997: Evelyn Silverman, formerly Social Sciences Librarian at Queens College Library
1996: Carol Ginsburg, formerly Managing Director at BST America LLC, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank

Mordine Mallory Award for Diversity in Archival Studies

This award is to be given in memory of Mordine Mallory, first librarian for the Queens College SEEK program and an early contributor to Black and ethnic studies on campus.

The award is given to a student who demonstrates support for diversity, equity, and inclusion in Archival Studies and engagement with intersections between Archival Studies and social justice.

Past recipients:

2025: Nande Walters
2024: Pamela Padilla
2023: Riah Lee Kinsey
2015: Margaret Kaczorowski

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GSLIS Award for Excellence in Archival Studies

This award is funded by the Oliver Sacks Foundation. It is given annually to a student who demonstrates academic excellence in archival studies during their coursework at GSLIS. Nominations for this award are made by the GSLIS faculty.

Past recipients: