Fellows
Elizabeth W. Adkins, Thomas J. Frusciano, and Mark A. Greene were named Fellows of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) on August 22, 2002, during an awards ceremony at SAA's 66th annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. Established in 1957 and conferred annually, the distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archival profession. They join 139 current members so honored out of a membership of 3,600.
Following are citations given by presenters during the awards ceremony.
ELIZABETH W. ADKINS, Global Information Manager for Ford Motor Company, has been named a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), the highest individual honor bestowed by SAA. Established in 1957 and conferred annually, this distinction is awarded to a limited number of individuals for their outstanding contribution to the archival profession. She joins 138 current members so honored. Ms. Adkins was named a Fellow on August 22, 2002, during SAA's 66th annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama.
In her professional work, her contributions to the archival profession worldwide, and her personal integrity, industriousness, and generosity, Ms. Adkins exemplifies the best attributes of an archivist. As one colleague wrote in nominating her for this honor, "Elizabeth is the consummate professional, combining excellent management skills and a visionary approach to archival practice with a strong personal commitment to her profession and the standards that define it. She has been a mentor for aspiring archivists, an inspirational leader for her staff, and a respected colleague for members of the archival community."
Throughout her career Elizabeth has worked in the field of business archives, creating world-class programs in an environment that does not generally place high priority on preserving historical records. However, through her tireless efforts to establish archives as corporate resources, she has solidified the position of the archives as a vital operation held in high regard by senior management, most notably at Kraft Foods and the Ford Motor Company. She has conveyed this sense of mission to numerous archivists who have attended the Business Archives Workshops that she has co-taught over the past decade.
Ms. Adkins has served SAA in many different capacities in the past two decades. Currently the SAA treasurer, she has chaired both the Acquisition and Appraisal Section and the Business Archives Section and has served as co-chair of the Committee on Public Information and co-chair of the 1998 Program Committee. She has also been active in the Academy of Certified Archivists, where she has served as vice president and president, the Midwest Archives Conference, the Michigan Archival Association, and the Illinois State Archives Advisory Board. She has contributed numerous published articles on business archives, public history, and local history.
Among Ms Adkins' many achievements in international activities, two recent accomplishments deserve special recognition. First, as Manager of Archives Services for Ford Motor Company, Elizabeth devised and implemented a plan to discover and reconstruct the archival record regarding the use of forced labor at Ford's plant in Cologne, Germany, during the Second World War. Not only did the final report of this project set "a new standard for documenting corporate actions on a significant and controversial issue," according to one of her colleagues, but she even managed to persuade the company to change its restrictive access policies for corporate records to "the more open access policy that generally governs academic research institutions."
Second, as this colleague states, "as a result of her handling of this project, Elizabeth so inspired the trust of senior management at Ford Motor Company, that her title and responsibilities changed from Manager of Archives Services to Global Information Manager." This is a significant breakthrough in positioning archives as an essential program in a major global corporation.
—Randall C. Jimerson, Western Washington University
THOMAS J. FRUSCIANO, University Archivist at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, has been a member of the archival profession for 25 years. Prior to joining Rutgers, he began his professional career as an archivist at Educational Testing Services and then became the first professionally trained university archivist at New York University. As one of his nominators noted: "He is an exceptionally talented, dedicated, and innovative archivist, teacher, author, editor, speaker, workshop conductor, consultant, project director, and leader in the archival profession." At Rutgers he reaches out to the campus to promote the visibility of the archives. He has served as a faculty senator and adviser to the student yearbook, for example. He does what all archivists need to do; he brings the archives down out of the attic and demonstrates its usefulness to all for instruction, research, and administration.
Over the years, Mr. Frusciano has bridged archives and historical research through his writings. He is the co-author New York University and the City: An Illustrated History (Rutgers University Press) as well as a wide variety of articles on both the history of higher education and archival practice. He has served on several editorial boards and is currently co-editor of the new Journal of Archival Organization (Haworth Press).
Teaching archives courses for both NYU's Archival Management graduate program and Rutgers' School of Communications, Information, and Library Studies, Mr. Frusciano has provided formal instruction and guidance for a score of students, many of whom have advanced into the profession. Mr. Frusciano has been an active participant in a number of professional associations. At SAA, he has chaired the Description and the College and University Archives sections and the Archival Education Roundtable, as well as served on a wide variety of committees for SAA, MARAC, and the Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York. He has given numerous conference papers and taught a wide variety of workshops, most frequently on descriptive practices, but drawing teachers, researchers and archivists alike into a better understanding of the use and keeping of archives. As another supporter said, "In all that he does Tom communicates an essential lesson: that we belong to a community; that we always innovate, collaborate, find ways to overcome challenges, so we as a profession can carry out our essential work: processing and making historical records accessible. I cannot think of a more valuable service to the archives profession."
—Leon J. Stout, Pennsylvania State University
MARK A. GREENE is the director of the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. He began his career as archivist of Carleton College, followed by 11 years as the curator of manuscripts acquisitions at Minnesota Historical Society, during which he received two awards for writing. Prior to joining the American Heritage Center, he was head of research center programs for the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich.
As one nominator put it, "The heart of [Mr. Greene's] archival contributions lies in his thinking and writing about the profession." Another noted that, "he is one of only a few archivists who not only have highly useful ideas, but also the ability to communicate and share those with a wide audience through publication." He has written compelling works on appraisal, access to records, Congressional papers, business records, research use of archives, and even histories.
He is the co-author, along with Todd Daniels-Howell, of the article "Documentation with an Attitude: A Pragmatist's Guide to the Selection and Acquisition of Modern Business Records" in The Records of American Business. It has been described as "the best article available for archivists who take on the challenge of documenting enterprise in America" and "has invigorated appraisal theory in the United States."
Mr. Greene is active in national and regional archival associations. At SAA, he is a mentor and has served as a leader of the Congressional Papers Roundtable, Manuscripts Repository Section, Committee on Education and Professional Development, and a recent member of council. Of his time on SAA council, another council member said, "his values reflect his deep commitment to and understanding of the profession, as well as his respect for fundamental principles of human dignity, respect for work, and equity." He is a past president and council member of the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC), and a workshop instructor. As chair of the MAC Editorial Board, Mr. Greene has actively sought out articles and nurtured the lesser ones, and the works that he oversaw "are among the best that MAC has ever published." This level of service to the archival profession is a standard for him. As one nominator put it, "he has always retained a higher degree of interest in learning from others than in imparting what he knows. As a result, he is seen by many in the field as a standard bearer of collegiality at a time when the profession is growing beyond the limits of easy interpersonal familiarity."
—Bruce Bruemmer, Cargill