Former School of Pharmacy Dean Honored with Library Award

Dr. William J. Kinnard receives the Theodore E. Woodward Award in recognition of his support of the Health Sciences and Human Services Library

By Becky Ceraul
December 2, 2009

William J. Kinnard, PhD, dean of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy from 1968 to 1989, was recognized on Nov. 19 with the Theodore E. Woodward Award from the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL). The ceremony was attended by his wife, many former colleagues and friends, and representatives of the Woodward family.

The award, named for Theodore E. Woodward, MD, a 1938 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is given to a friend of the library in acknowledgement of a significant contribution of resources or exemplary service in support of the library’s mission. It was established in 1995 and recognizes the significant and enduring contributions made to the library by Woodward, who was also a Professor Emeritus at the School of Medicine

In her remarks, MJ Tooey, MLS, associate vice president for academic affairs at UMB and executive director of the HS/HSL, praised Kinnard for recognizing in the late 80s when he was serving as UMB’s acting president that the library needed an improved facility to properly serve the thousands of students on the campus. “Dr. Kinnard mobilized this campus to advocate for a new building,” she said. “Funding for it got placed on the top of the campus and state priority lists, and we opened this beautiful new facility in 1998.”

In addition to his advocacy in securing funds for the building, Kinnard has been a longtime member of the HS/HSL’s Board of Visitors and, in 2003, funded the Kinnard Leisure Reading Collection. “As result of Dr. Kinnard’s continued support, the library now subscribes to more than 30 magazines and has a collection of leisure books available to students, faculty and staff.”

“Friends can contribute time, talents, or treasures,” Tooey continued. “Dr. Kinnard has done all three.”

“I am honored to accept this award named for my dear friend Ted Woodward,” Kinnard said. “He was a colleague, an advisor, a mentor, a researcher, a teacher, and my own physician. He was also a great lover of books.”

“In the early days, books were only available to scholars and religious leaders,” Kinnard said. “They were kept in building not open to the public and written in Latin. Today, we have search engines and, computers that make graphs and type papers, cell phones and text messaging, and are linked by a worldwide web. As a result of this technology, language has become fractured. But books are a renewable resource, and I encourage you all to uncover the joy of poetry and prose.”