Liz Liddy: A Brilliant Innovator, Inspiring Teacher, Energizing Leader Retires
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When Liz became dean at her alma mater, “She’s data driven down to her fundamental he pathways and she led the school to huge enrollment growth, level. Her way of working is to get in and work processes of learning, leading roles in innovation and entrepreneurship out problems, letting the solutions arise from tireless analysis, testing, and exploration; discovering, and doing studies and promoting technology careers and education for women, and a heightened global she has continued that into all other parts of have always been satis- profile. Later, at the Chancellor’s request, she her life. Whatever the challenge, she goes for it diverted temporarily to serve as interim vice with sheer curiosity and perseverance. She’s fying and grounding for Elizabeth chancellor and provost for the University for a just intrepid. Liz was a pioneer, and with her “Liz” Liddy, who retired in May as year and a half before returning as iSchool dean. contributions natural language processing At every stage of her career, her devotion to went on to become an everyday tool.” dean of the iSchool. discovery, continual learning, meeting BARBARA KWAŚNIK, PROFESSOR EMERITA As a child she accompanied challenges head-on, and doing new, interesting Professional Associates things drove personal stretch goals and iSchool her father and siblings on weekly academic strength. Liz succeeded—and “You have led the iSchool with grace, integrity, library visits. As a college student excelled—at every turn. and a passion for innovation. The programs you have spearheaded will benefit students for she earned a degree in English Time for Family and Self years to come.” In transitioning to retirement, Liz may find Language and Literature. As a BARBARA SETTEL, RETIRED ISCHOOL EXECUTIVE herself in an unfamiliar place for a woman who DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS young mom she volunteered in has been immersed in business and academia “You brought me into research and guided my the school library, then enrolled in since she was a teen. But the next chapter promises more time for family; service on five progress, with a most appreciated respect for Syracuse University’s Library and educational and business boards; and favored my needs and choices. You’ve supported my athletic and outdoor pursuits. career changes all along the way.” Information Science master’s Apart from her stellar professional achieveEILEEN ALLEN, FORMER ISCHOOL RESEARCH program. She became a college ments, Liz’s legacy as friend, mentor, role model, ADMINISTRATOR cheerleader, teacher, trusted associate and inspilibrarian, then returned to the “You are an innovative information scientist ration to hundreds stands intact. Some of those and academician who does not see boundaries, classroom herself, taking doctoral folks toast her here. only new possibilities.” courses part-time while ANNE TURNER, PROFESSOR, HEALTH SERVICES/ Doctoral Cohort Members BIOMEDICAL INFORMATICS AND MEDICAL EDUCAmaintaining her full-time job. TION UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Goals Undeterred
As a researcher, Liz believed that linguistic principles could be applied to computer language learning and text retrieval processes. Though status-quo thought leaders were skeptical then, Liz was undeterred. Her disser tation won awards before she even completed her doctorate, and she became a pioneer in the new field of natural language processing. Appointed to the iSchool faculty, she also built a company from her patentable findings. But being CEO kept her from the classroom more than she wanted. She sold the company and returned to teaching, founding the Center for Natural Language Processing. She continued leading-edge NLP, text mining, and information retrieval research and contract work for government agencies for many years.
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“What really struck from the beginning was her brilliance. Her insights, her research on linguistic understanding and knowledge, and the mechanisms applied to information were the best in our field. If she had done nothing else, her research legacy was huge. The other thing Liz had was this innovation entrepreneurship side. She really has been a glass ceilingbreaker her whole life. There’s nobody quite like her in all the things she’s done.” MICHAEL EISENBERG, DEAN EMERITUS AND PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ISCHOOL
iSchool Graduates “From helping me start my career, to finding a new city to call home, the iSchool has forever changed my life.” ZACH WILDER, ’18
“You cultivated a community of people passionate to help students learn, grow, and push boundaries. You personally made sure that students felt welcomed and had a place to nurture their talents.” HAILEY TEMPLE, ’15
“The love and family feel that the iSchool has starts at the top. You’ve created an environment where students thrive, learn, and continue to push the boundaries of the college experience.” DAVID ROSEN, ’11 G’12
THE iSCHOOL @ SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
