June 15, 2018 – Wheat Ridge, CO – The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) recognized the efforts of five deserving individuals at the SSP 40th annual meeting, held in Chicago May 30-June 1.
“The contributions of our dedicated volunteer members are the backbone of this society,” said Melanie Dolechek, Executive Director of SSP. “Without their efforts, SSP could not fulfill its mission and meet its goals. These awards honor those that have gone above and beyond to help further the mission of SSP.”
Appreciation Awards were bestowed on three SSP members whose contributions to the society are difficult to exaggerate. SSP congratulates Byron Laws, Emilie Delquié and Jake Zarnegar.
Byron Laws, Sales Director, Americas at Nova Techset Limited, is currently serving his second consecutive term as SSP’s Treasurer. During his service SSP’s financial situation has improved dramatically, which Byron attributes to good timing and improvements in the markets during his watch. “But it’s also true that he has made wise and farsighted adjustments in SSP’s financial position, always explaining them carefully and clearly to the Board, and consistently making recommendations that we could immediately recognize as wise and which we have never regretted adopting,” said Rick Anderson, SSP 2017-2018 Past President and chair of the SSP Nominating and Awards Committee.
Emilie Delquié, Global Alliances Manager at Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., is one of the people who quietly makes a huge difference in an organization like SSP. She has co-chaired two of the most important SSP committees as well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors. She also took the lead in planning our 40th anniversary celebration. “You might not know her, but if she weren’t here I can promise that you’d notice the gap she left,” Anderson said.
Jake Zarnegar, Chief Product Officer at Silverchair Information Systems, was recognized for his tireless work as editor of RE:member, SSP’s weekly member eNews digest. “This is the kind of job that people only notice you doing if you make a mistake; when you perform your duties faithfully, accurately and consistently, as Jake did for so long, no one notices that you’re doing it. This award is one small way for us to change that,” Anderson said.
Emerging Leader Award
The 2018 Emerging Leader award this year went to Isabel Thompson, a young professional whose passion for scholarly communication has been described as “tireless,” who is characterized as a “leader by example,” and who has already established a strong reputation for “walking the walk” of industry leadership. One colleague who recommended her for this award described her as “the most committed, enthusiastic, brilliant, and insightful person to have entered the scholarly publishing industry in recent years.” She has already contributed mightily to SSP as an organization, taking the lead in organizing regional events in the UK, serving on two committees, and being involved in everything she possibly can.
Distinguished Service Award
The 2018 Distinguished Service Award was given to Alice Meadows. Alice has been described as “a force in the (scholarly publishing industry),” not only because of the volume and effectiveness of her committee and leadership work within SSP, but also because of the influence she’s had within our ecosystem generally due to her work with ORCID, CHORUS, Women in Science, and elsewhere. She has become a highly-valued and widely-read contributor to The Scholarly Kitchen, raising and discussing important issues of diversity and gender balance not only with rigor and logical force, but also with kindness and empathy. “To know Alice Meadows is to stand in awe of the way she accomplishes so much herself while at the same time encouraging and fostering the accomplishments of others,” Anderson said.
The Society for Scholarly Publishing congratulates the 2018 SSP award recipients and thanks them for all their work on behalf of SSP as an organization and scholarly publishing as a whole.
About the Society for Scholarly Publishing – The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), founded in 1978, is a nonprofit organization formed to promote and advance communication among all sectors of the scholarly publication community through networking, information dissemination, and facilitation of new developments in the field. SSP members represent all aspects of scholarly publishing — including publishers, printers, e-products developers, technical service providers, librarians, and editors. SSP members come from a wide range of large and small commercial and nonprofit organizations. They meet at SSP’s annual meetings, educational seminars, and focus groups to hear the latest trends from respected colleagues and to discuss common and mutual (and sometimes divergent) goals and viewpoints.
For more information, contact:
Melanie Dolechek
Executive Director
info@sspnet.org | +1-303-422-3914
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