Clara Chu receiving her award at the ALISE 2016 Conference

Clara Chu, Director and Mortenson Distinguished Professor at the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs in the University of Illinois Library, has been named the 2016 recipient of the ALISE Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education. The award was presented to Chu on January 7, 2016 at the ALISE Annual Conference.

Recipients must provide evidence of regular and sustained service that promotes and strengthens the broad areas of library and information science education by holding appropriate offices and positions within the profession, by making contributions which promote and enhance the status of library and information science education, and by providing evidence of leadership and initiative in dealing with issues related to library and information science education.

ALISE (Association for Library and Information Science Education) is a non-profit organization that serves as the intellectual home of university faculty in graduate programs in library and information science in North America. Its mission is to promote innovation and excellence in research, teaching, and service for educators and scholars in Library and Information Science and cognate disciplines internationally through leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and dissemination of research. Chu is currently the past-president of ALISE.

Chu joined the University of Illinois Library faculty in May 2015 as Director of the Mortenson Center. Prior to coming to Illinois, she was Chair and Professor of the Department of Library and Information Studies at UNC-Greensboro. Chu’s research focuses on understanding the information needs, uses, and barriers faced by multicultural communities and how they can shape information practices and institutions to provide equitable access to information and foster social change.  Her transnational ethnic minority experiences inform the critical lens she applies in her research, and the engagement of diverse voices in developing user- and student-centered library and information services and education.