Rebecca Vargha receives Distinguished Alumna Award from SLIS at NCCU

(News release courtesy of UNC School of Information and Library Science)

Dec. 2, 2008 - Rebecca Vargha, head librarian at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has received the Distinguished Alumna Award from her alma mater, the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). The award was presented during a special ceremony at NCCU this fall. It is the second Distinguished Alumna Award given by the school.

Vargha was selected for the Distinguished Alumni Award for her leadership contributions in the Special Libraries Association as a student and as a professional.

"She has been, and is, a mentor and role model for contributions in leadership for other students and alumni," said Dr. Irene Owens, dean of SLIS.

"To receive the Distinguished Alumnae Award from the North Carolina Central School of Library and Information Science is a great honor," said Vargha. "I was totally surprised and delighted when Dean Irene Owens contacted me with the exciting news about this award. The graduate school program at North Carolina Central provided an excellent foundation for becoming the information professional that I am today. We truly live in an age of information when librarians and information professionals play a vital role in connecting people with knowledge. My sincere thanks to the faculty, staff, students and alumnae for being an important part of my life."

In addition to serving as head librarian at SILS since 2001, Vargha is immediate past president of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). She is faculty advisor for the SLA Student Group at SILS and archivist for the North Carolina Chapter of SLA. At SILS, Vargha is responsible for collection development, staff supervision, liaison with departmental faculty and the central library, reference and research assistance and facilities management. Before SILS she worked as Senior Research Specialist at Nortel Networks, where she partnered with clients globally to develop and deliver enhanced, value-added strategic information solutions through training, demonstrations and presentations. Prior to Nortel, she was an information analyst for SAS (a software company). Her career began as an assistant librarian at the National Humanities Center. Vargha holds a bachelor's degree in English from UNC at Chapel Hill and a master's degree in library science from North Carolina Central University. She is a member of Beta Phi Mu, and was recipient of the prestigious Meritorious Achievement Award (1994) from the North Carolina SLA Chapter for making outstanding contributions to the profession and chapter.

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