Claudia Gollop Passes Away

SILS Community Mourns the Loss of Former Faculty Member and Associate Dean Claudia Gollop

Dr. Claudia Gollop, PhD, a distinguished former faculty member and associate dean at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS), passed away on May 3, 2022.

A native of New York City, Dr. Gollop received her BA from City College-City University of New York (CUNY) and MLS degree from Columbia University. She worked as a library and information professional in public, special, and academic libraries for nearly 15 years prior to returning to school to earn her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.

Gollop joined the SILS faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor. She became an associate professor with tenure in 2000 and served as associate dean from 2004-2007.

“Claudia was a consummate mentor to students and her colleagues. She always found a way to find good and value in every person and in their ideas. Her work experience in libraries allowed her to link information services theory and practice and inspired her students,” Gary Marchionini, Dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor at SILS, said. “She was always ready to serve her community, including as SILS Associate Dean, student organization mentor, and committee chair. She was a kind and compassionate teacher, scholar, leader, and friend, and we will all miss her greatly.”

In addition to teaching courses in reference services, health information resources and services, and information issues related to diverse user groups, she served as advisor for numerous master’s papers and dissertations. While at SILS, Dr. Gollop also served as a committee member on the SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) committee, which increases involvement and engagement of SILS minority alumni.

Her research centered on issues of consumer health information acquisition and dissemination, Claudia Gollop particularly among older adults. Her groundbreaking article “Health Information-Seeking Behavior and Older African American Women,” published by the Medical Library Association in 1997, has been cited more than 150 times.

After undergoing angioplasty and cardiac rehabilitation in 2007, Dr. Gollop launched a new line of inquiry into cardiac rehabilitation information referrals practices with the goal of improving the heart health of women and minorities.

Dr. Gollop received the Round Table for Ethnic and Minority Concerns (REMCo) Roadbuilders’ Award in Library Education from the North Carolina Library Association in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Gollop received the Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award from SILS for her outstanding service to the school and held the Frances Carroll McColl Term Professorship at SILS.

In 2018, she was named the winner of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Award for Professional Contribution. The award is presented to ALISE members for regular and sustained service that promotes and strengthens the broad areas of library and information science education through the holding of appropriate offices and positions within the profession.

After over 25 years of service to SILS, Dr. Gollop retired in 2020. Her impact on the students, faculty and staff at SILS leaves a lasting legacy for generations of information and library science students and professionals.

“Dr. Gollop’s early work in health services for underserved individuals and communities established a foundation for SILS’s public good approach to health informatics,” Marchionini said. “She practiced inclusivity and led SILS diversity and inclusion work throughout her tenure. We are a stronger, more compassionate, and more public-service oriented school because of her.”