SIS and CCI are fondly remembering the life and service of Donald W. King, a long-time supporter of the school and college and an SIS adjunct professor, who died in November at the age of 87.

King served on the CCI Board of Visitors from 2011-2014, was a member of CCI’s Bickel Society, and was the co-creator of the Tenopir-King Research Excellence Fund with SIS Chancellor’s Professor Carol Tenopir. Tenopir said one of the reasons she came to the University of Tennessee in 1994 was to have an opportunity to do research with King.

When Cassandra Huang graduated from high school in her home country of Taiwan, her General Scholastic Ability Test results gave her several options as to what she could pursue in college. For her, it came down to a choice between Chinese literature study and library information science; she chose the latter.

Assistant Professor Brian Dobreski is the newest member of the SIS faculty, and he’s settling well into both his role as a teacher, and into his new community in Knoxville. He’s also made an impact academically with his dissertation, which earned him three accolades in recent months:

Tyler Martindale quit his real estate appraiser job and started waiting tables and bartending not long after he graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in business economics.

“I had that early millennial mindset, and I didn’t want to do something I didn’t derive personal satisfaction from for the rest of my life,” he said. “So I was figuring things out. While I was doing that, I was going to my local public library in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and thinking that the services it provided me were invaluable.”

When MSIS student Dylan Miller heard local LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization OUTMemphis speak at her library about LGBTQ+ inclusivity, it planted the seed of an idea: why not host a Pride event at the library? She wasn’t the only one who understood the importance of the organization’s message and had the same response – two other Benjamin L. Hook Central Library employees met up with Miller and an OUTMemphis representative, and together they decided that such an event should happen.

When Regina Mays and Rachel Fleming-May get together, it’s a close camaraderie. They joke about which one of them is “the best” (each claiming it’s the other, and not themselves), and their interactions have that underlying trust and ease that takes years to build. In fact, it’s been about a decade since the two began their professional collaboration.

SIS Clinical Associate Professor Cindy Welch was chosen by the University of Tennessee’s Teaching & Learning Innovation to be a Teaching Innovator for 2019.

“When it comes to Teaching & Learning Innovation, I never say no because they’re so great at what they do,” Welch said.
TLI provides support to faculty members, teachers, and staff through programs, services, and partnerships to enrich student learning.

SIS welcomed two visiting scholars this fall, Professor Tao Yang (left) and Associate Professor Wei Wei Zhang (right). Visiting scholars pursue their research while here, and also observe SIS faculty and students during their stays. It is an opportunity for them to learn about educational practices and enjoy United States college traditions.