Liz Liddy, dean of Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, announced Friday that she will retire from her position at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.

The search for her replacement will begin this year, according to a Friday SU News release.

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During her 35-year tenure, the iSchool has created new opportunities for its students, including a graduate certificate program in data science and an increase in women student engagement in IT, per the release.

The iSchool’s undergraduate enrollment increased 71 percent under Liddy’s leadership, and graduate enrollment has increased 66 percent, per the release. Liddy has also helped raise more than $26 million to fund research and development.

Liddy has been an SU student, professor, dean and member of Chancellor Kent Syverud’s executive team during her career at the university. She began as a visiting assistant professor in 1983 and earned a Ph.D. from the iSchool in 1988.

She became dean of the iSchool in 2008. She temporarily left her post as dean from 2015 to 2016, when Syverud appointed her interim vice chancellor and provost.

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Liddy founded and led a software startup company in 1994 that won the Tibbetts Award from the United States Small Business Administration. She is the holder of eight software patents and has led 70 research projects, authored more than 110 research papers and given hundreds of conference presentations on her work, per the SU News release.

The iSchool created New York state’s first graduate certificate program in data science during Liddy’s tenure and also announced a new undergraduate minor in data analytics, per the release. From 2012 to 2014, she chaired the iSchools organization, a consortium with three initial member information schools, including SU. The organization now includes 95 information schools around the world.

Liddy also founded the student group Women in Technology to support women IT students and worked to introduce area high school girls to careers in technology, per the SU News release. Women make up about 42 percent of the overall iSchool undergraduate population.

Liddy currently serves on the board of the  which led to a partnership between the iSchool and the Madden School that provides students access to programs and courses beyond those that their home school offers.

Published on September 9, 2018 at 9:33 pm

Contact Colleen: cefergus@syr.edu | @ColleenEFergus2