2000 EMMETT LEAHY AWARD WINNER, MARY F. ROBEK

Mary F. Robek is Professor Emerita of Administrative Services and Business Education at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, USA. She gained both her Master of Business Administration and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan before teaching at Bergland High School, Michigan for 10 years. She joined Eastern Michigan University in 1958 where she taught business and administrative courses. She is co-author of the widely used textbook Information and Records Management, first published in 1974 with Wilmer O. Meadke and Gerald F. Brown and later appearing in its fifth edition with Gerald F. Brown and David O. Stephens. A Past President of the Institute Certified Managers (1980-1981), she is a Fellow and Life Member of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators. 

At the Annual Business Meeting of the Institute of Certified Records Managers, October 22, 2000.

As Chairman of the 2000 Emmett Leahy Award Committee, it is with great pleasure that I stand before you – the leaders of the records management profession – to present this year’s Emmett Leahy Award, the highest honor of professional achievement in information and records management.

Before I make the presentation, however, I would like to briefly share with you a few thoughts about Emmett Leahy.

Very few of us knew him, so it is appropriate that we focus, in our reflection of him, on the attributes he manifested and, which the Committee believes, are also manifested in this year’s recipient.

• By every standard Emmett Leahy was a pioneer. He was, together with General Wood, the Head of Sears Roebuck, one of the key members of the legendary Hoover Commission to streamline and improve the effectiveness of government.
• Emmett Leahy also was a visionary, realizing in the 1930’s and 40’s with such others as Thomas Watson Sr., of IBM, the importance of information and the business opportunity that existed to better manage this critically important business and government asset.
• Emmett Leahy was a person of extraordinary accomplishment. In addition to his work with the Federal Government, he was a founder of Leahy Archives which he helped develop into one of the nation's foremost records management services.

Emmett Leahy did all of this. It is, in the spirit of great respect for what he accomplished, that we honor Emmett Leahy with the most prestigious award for professional achievement in information and records management.

As we give this year’s award, let me tell you, on behalf of the nine other members of the Award Committee who are Patricia Acton, Jim Coulson, Fred Diers, Frank Evans, Mark Langemo, John McDonald, Ira Penn, Donald Skupsky, Peter Smith and David Goodman, that the evaluation and selection process was done entirely and exclusively by the Committee. As in the past, Pierce Leahy Archives, and now the company into which it was merged, Iron Mountain, supports the award through reimbursement of the Committee’s expenses. In doing so, they have sought no influence and had no influence in the selection process. Iron Mountain’s sole objective is supporting the Award Committee in its selection of a recipient who reflects Emmett Leahy’s extraordinary qualities.

This year’s Emmett Leahy Award presentation is very special in that it is part of this gala 25th anniversary celebration of The Institute of Certified Records Managers. On behalf of the Leahy Award Committee, I want to express to the leadership and members of the Institute our deep appreciation for including the Leahy Award presentation as part of your annual meeting.

As the Leahy Award Committee convenes to select a recipient, one of the most important criteria that it looks for in the candidates is their impact on the profession of records management.

How does the Committee assess an individual’s impact on the profession of records management? Clearly, you must accomplish a great deal – a great deal not just on behalf of your employers, but also a great deal that influences and benefits others – your professional peers and your associates.

For most nominees, the “written” contribution of their professional impact takes the form of professional articles; for a few, it includes writing books.

For most nominees, the “educational” component of their professional impact includes presentations at conferences and seminars; for a few, it includes organizing and creating such events.

For many nominees, the professional “standards” aspect of their impact includes participating in professional standards work; for a few, it is truly establishing new standards.

For many nominees, the professional impact means actively participating in professional organizations; for a few, it is leading such organizations.

This year’s recipient is one of the “few” in all of these important measurements of impacting the profession of records management. But this person is more.

As Emmett Leahy was a true pioneer in the profession of records management, this year’s recipient also has been a true pioneer in the profession.

• We honor someone who, in the opinion of many peers, wrote the “bible” of our profession – a book, that decades after its original publication, still serves so many as a great source of both information and also inspiration.
• We honor someone who has truly “set the standard” in our profession, not only in the excellence of the book that I referenced, but someone who also played a “keystone” role in establishing and maintaining the personal standard of our profession: The Institute of Certified Records Managers.
• And maybe most importantly, we honor someone who has done what very few have the opportunity to do: to be like Emmett Leahy in having a vision of “what should be” and having the tenacity to make it a reality.

On this occasion at the dawn of the 21st century, it is most appropriate that we honor with the year’s Emmett Leahy Award a person who has personified for the last several decades of the 20th century the axiom of being an examples for others to set their standards. So …

• for her landmark contribution to the literature or records management
• for her legendary contribution to records management education - through the classes that she taught and many more, where her book was the seminal text
• for her pivotal contribution to the Institute of Certified Records Managers
• for her perceptive vision to conceptualize critically important needs in this profession, and
• for her erstwhile commitment to excellence in all that she undertook to make her visions a reality for all of us to benefit from.

Please join me in congratulating the year 2000 winner of the Emmett Leahy Award, Dr. Mary F. Robek.