I am sorry to share that Robert Sandusky, the AUL for IT at the University of Illinois at Chicago, passed away last Friday from cancer.
I've included some of the note from my Dean, Mary Case, below. We do not yet have a time for a memorial service but if you'd like that information, please let me know. Abigail Bob was the UIC Library's Associate University Librarian and Associate Dean for Information Technology (AULIT). He joined UIC in this capacity in October 2007. Bob was an Associate Professor having been granted tenure in 2012. Prior to joining UIC, Bob spent from 2005-2007 as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the School of Information Sciences. He received his PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005. Prior to his career in academia, Bob spent a decade as Systems Officer of the Fednet National Network Management Control Center at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago and was a Senior Project Manager, Information Architect and Senior Web Developer at ComPsych Corporation in Chicago. Bob had a BA in English and an MS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University. During his 12 years of service as AULIT, Bob built a strong team and introduced project management processes for tracking and evaluating systems initiatives. He led one and oversaw a second revision of our website, supported the team working on the Explore Chicago Collections portal, guided the implementation and upgrading of several systems that support Special Collections, Digital Scholarship/Scholarly Communications, and Digital Programs & Services to name just a few. Bob coordinated the internal Library/IT assessment process for many years and met with students as we discussed priorities and projects. In this past year, Bob also engaged deeply in the Library's diversity, equity and inclusion program serving as a member of the Design Team. Bob was an active member of the University community. He served on the Faculty Senate and the Senate Support Services Committee which he chaired. He was also appointed to the Research Committee of the IT Governance Council and served as Chair of the Institutional Stewardship of Research Data Subcommittee. Bob was engaged nationally in the NSF funded DataONE: Observation Network for Earth project. He was a co-investigator and member of the Core Cyberinfrastructure Team (2007-2014), a member of the Usability and Assessment Working Group, and was co-chair of the DataONE Users Group. Bob was an active scholar, producing many peer-reviewed journal articles, books chapters, workshops and conference presentations. His research focused on data management and reuse, sociotechnical systems, and most recently on the application of notions of computational provenance to libraries, archives and museums. As a member of the senior team in the Library, Bob asked hard questions and provided wise advice. He was always a gentle-man and fought cancer with dignity and drive. Our hearts ache for this loss for his family and for our community. We will miss him deeply. His family will be planning a memorial service to celebrate Bob's life for later in the year, when we will be able to gather together again.
