Founding dean of library studies program dies

James Ramer, the founding dean of the UA School of Library and Information Studies, died Sept. 27 after a brief illness. He was 80 years old.

Ramer became the first dean in 1971 when the program was still known as the Graduate School of Library Services. He served as dean and professor until his retirement in 1988.

While serving as dean, Ramer developed the Master of Library Service degree, the educational specialist degree in librarianship and the Master of Fine Arts degree in book arts. Shortly after his retirement, the Ph.D. program in librarianship, which he helped form, was implemented.

There was not another program like this in Alabama or the Southeast when the program started in 1971, said Jewel Sandoval, a former administrative assistant in the school and a close friend of Ramer's.

"He loved that program so much," said Sandoval, who had known Ramer since he hired her in 1974.

After building a program from scratch, Sandoval said the program was nationally accredited within a few years, and the accreditation was retroactive, so anyone who has ever graduated with a degree from the school has the national accreditation.

Sandoval said Ramer was a brilliant and gentle man.

"You wouldn't find any better," she said. "There's not a better person on Earth to work for."

Sandoval and Ramer stayed friends after his retirement. She said they talked almost daily and ate lunch together every Friday.

He enjoyed his retirement, Sandoval said, splitting his time between his home in Northport and another residence in South Beach, Fla. In Northport, he had daylily gardens that he took care of, and she said Ramer worked out every day until July 17 when he started to get sick.

Before Ramer came to the University, he was an associate professor in the division of librarianship at Emory University. In 1987, he was awarded the Alabama Library Association's Citation of Exceptional Service.

While at the University, Ramer created the James D. Ramer Endowed Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award. It is awarded yearly to a doctoral student in the UA School of Library and Information Studies who writes that year's best dissertation. EBSCO Industries also helps to fund this award.

The faculty of the School of Library Service, friends and associates of Ramer's also established the James D. Ramer Endowed Library Service Fellowship Fund in his honor. The fund grants fellowships to graduate students in the library studies program.

Sandoval said there is no way to quantify how much Ramer did for the University as dean of the School of Library and Information Studies.

"There's just not enough I can tell you about him to say what a wonderful man he was," Sandoval said.

In keeping with Ramer's wishes, no service will be held.

Memorial gifts may be made to Hospice of West Alabama, the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies' scholarship program or the Tuscaloosa Public Library.