The Emmett Leahy Award is the highest award for individual accomplishment in the information and records management profession. Given in honor of Emmett Leahy, the legendary pioneer of records management, this award annually recognizes an individual whose contributions and outstanding achievements have had a major impact on the records and information management profession.
I am delighted to be representing the Emmett Leahy Award Committee in presenting the 2013 Emmett Leahy Award this year. The Emmett Leahy Award promotes and facilitates industry leadership by identifying individuals who have demonstrated exemplary contributions to the records and information management professions. This is done by carefully and critically assessing the achievements and contributions of RIM professionals against strict criteria. An individual is identified who has demonstrated the most overall positive impact on the RIM Profession. In the spirit of Emmett Leahy himself, award winners provide a strong example for present and future leaders of the RIM Profession. The Award also promotes and facilitates RIM thought leadership by collecting and disseminating the vision, wisdom and ideas of its leaders to all RIM practitioners around the world. In fact, six of the last 10 awardees have been from outside of the US representing the UK, Italy, Australia and Canada.
It should be noted, however, that the Emmett Leahy Award Committee is an independent entity and is not a a part of the National Archives and Records Administration, the Institute of Certified Records Managers, ARMA International, or any private commercial entity.
The 2013 Emmett Leahy Awardee is an internationally recognized expert in the field of information governance. She may be a unique individual in the world, someone who holds two Masters degrees and a PhD in Computer Science from Columbia University, as well as being a Certified Records Manager (CRM). After stints at IBM and Bell Labs, she co-founded her own company, MDY, responsible for developing best of breed software in the records management space. Later many of us knew her as a Senior Vice President at CA Inc., as well as Senior Vice President for Information Governance at Autonomy, now an HP company. Currently she is her own principal as an information governance consultant to the world.
Along the way, this year’s recipient has had a major impact on the profession through her leadership of ARMA, including service on the ARMA Board as Past President and Board Chair. In the view of the Leahy Committee, her work in assisting with the rollout of the ARMA Initiative of the Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles, now known simply by the name, The Principles, her numerous presentations and articles, and her general cheerleading on behalf of greater recognition of the importance of IG generally, were all material factors in her selection as this year’s recipient. On a personal note, I have found watched with admiration our recipient manage Board meetings at ARMA, and consider her one of the smartest individuals in the RIM world today.
On behalf of Ken Thibodeau, Chair of the 2013 Emmett Leahy Award Committee, and my fellow colleagues on the Committee, I am delighted to present the 2013 Emmett Leahy Award to Galina Datskovsky, Ph.D, CRM.
