Paul Wasserman, the founding Dean of the College of Information Studies and current professor emeritus at this university, died May 8 at age 85 in Shady Grove Adventist Hospital after battling pneumonia and a colon infection.
Wasserman, who retired from teaching in 2005, came to campus in January of 1965 from Cornell University and created the college formerly known as the School of Library and Information Services. He worked with a secretary to hire an interdisciplinary faculty, create curriculums and attract students to open the school that September.
“He did it like he did everything else: He did it with a vision in mind,” said Diane Barlow, now the Associate Dean of the College of Information Studies and a former student of Wasserman’s.
Friends and colleagues remember his compassionate personality and ease in making others feel comfortable. Wasserman regularly attended his great-grandchildren’s soccer games in Annapolis before he became ill.
After five years, Wasserman resigned from the deanship in 1970. In a 1995 interview on the College of Information Studies’ website, he said he stepped down because his true love in academia involved the instruction of students and the independence.
“When I reverted from being a dean to professor, I escaped back into my own world of interests, opportunities and personal pleasures,” Wasserman said. “I love the classroom too much.”
As a professor, he became known around campus for his high work standards and his ability to make personal connections.
“He was just very demanding, but people respected and wanted to please him,” said Esther Herman, Wasserman’s former student, colleague and close family friend. “He brought out the best in his students.”
While teaching, Wasserman wrote and edited several series of reference books and worked on other publications including Statistics Sources, Reader in Library Administration and Washington, DC from A to Z among others. He collaborated on some of his books with his two children and many past students.
Besides working at the university and writing for academia, Wasserman was an internationally renown scholar in the library field. He traveled around the world to teach and speak. He also worked with many organizations such as USAID and UNESCO and completed two Fulbright fellowship grants teaching in Sri Lanka and Poland.
“When I was a student, I attended a seminar that he gave,” Barlow said. “One of my favorite parts was watching him interact with people from all over the country and the world. … [He was good at] listening to their stories and getting people to talk about themselves.”
Before joining the academic world, he survived the sinking of a U.S. troopship in 1944 while serving in the Army during World War II, according to family friends. Wasserman was awarded two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star.
Wasserman received his B.B.A. from the College of the City of New York. He achieved two master’s degrees in economics and library science from Columbia University and attained a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan. Later, he became a librarian and professor at Cornell University’s Graduate School of Business and Public Administration.
A loving father and grandfather, Wasserman enjoyed walking around campus even after retirement.
Surviving family members include wife Krystyna Wasserman, son Steven Wasserman, daughter Jacqueline Wasserman Monroe, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
The burial and memorial services were held May 26 at Arlington National Cemetery of Arlington, Va., and Memorial Chapel on the campus, respectively.
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