Congratulations to Dr. Loriene Roy, professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information (iSchool), who was selected for the Provost’s Distinguished Service Academy (DSA) inaugural cohort!
Roy joins a group of extraordinary faculty members who were each chosen for their outstanding service at UT and beyond. “I am greatly honored to be selected to serve on UT Austin’s inaugural Distinguished Service Academy. I am especially grateful at this time to my colleagues and family who have supported me as I accepted service roles and responsibilities over the years. As an American Indian woman (Anishinabe, enrolled on the White Earth Reservation, member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe), I know that service that benefits others is expected and recognized as a way to stay connected with other indigenous peoples,” she said.
"As an American Indian woman, I know that service that benefits others is expected and recognized as a way to stay connected with other indigenous peoples."
Roy believes the Distinguished Service Academy is an important step in recognizing and rewarding UT Austin faculty—especially women and people of color—who elect to engage in community-based service. Dean Eric T. Meyer commented, “I am absolutely delighted that Professor Roy’s dedication and service to the iSchool, to the university, and beyond has been recognized in her selection as one of the inaugural members awarded this honor. She has such a strong dedication to mentoring and inclusion, and this not only rewards such dedication, but also allows her to use it as a platform to help others follow in her footsteps.”
As a former president of both the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Indian Library Association (AILA), Roy has demonstrated excellence in scholarship and a commitment to fostering leadership around diversity, inclusion, and mentoring through her work on indigenous cultural heritage development and in recruiting military veterans to library and information science professions.
In addition to receiving an annual stipend, Roy and the other members of the Distinguished Service Academy will sponsor workshops and offer a series of one-on-one mentoring sessions so that others can learn how to integrate excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service. “I look forward to learning from the other members of the Academy in sharing our reflections on the place of service in our careers and advancing the rewards and benefits of service,” Roy said. “I also look forward to working with other faculty on their efforts to balance the great rewards of service with their teaching and research responsibilities.”
The Distinguished Service Academy’s inaugural cohort includes the iSchool’s Loriene Roy; Carolyn Brown, College of Pharmacy; Jen Moon, College of Natural Sciences; Lisa Moore, College of Liberal Arts; and Rich Reddick, College of Education.