---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- From: "Subbiah Arunachalam" Date: Sun, July 24, 2016 10:05 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are sad to announce that Jack Meadows, one of the University’s most esteemed Emeritus Professors, died peacefully on Monday night at the age of 82. Jack is regarded worldwide as one of the most influential figures in Information Science and the History of Science. Having gained a DPhil in Astronomy from New College, Oxford, Jack moved to the University of Leicester in 1965, where he went on to become Professor of Astronomy and History of Science. His career, and his renown, in astronomy were officially recognised when he had a planet named after him Asteroid 4600 Meadows. Jack came to Loughborough University in 1986 as Professor of Library and Information Studies in the then Department of Information Science. He held a number of senior managerial roles at Loughborough: Head of Department (1986-1990), Dean of Education and Humanities (1992-1995) and finally Pro Vice-Chancellor (1995-1996). As well as being an inspirational teacher Jack authored many seminal publications in the Physical Sciences, History of Science and Information Science domains, most notably *The Origins of Information Science*(1987). He retired from the University in 2001 but always maintained strong links, popping in regularly to see how things were going and helping out wherever he could. Jack was not just a huge academic star; he was also a friend and mentor to all who were fortunate enough to cross paths with him. He was always encouraging, supportive and cheerful, offering wisdom and insight as well as warmth and humanity. He and his wife, Jane, are remembered warmly as gracious hosts to all members of the department at the wonderful annual summer afternoon tea parties they held in their beautiful garden. He will be sorely missed. Our condolences go to his wife and other family members. -- I am sure many of our colleagues in the LIS fraternity would have benefited by reading the books of Prof. Meadows. What they may not know is that he came all the way to India for two weeks to help young Indian science journalists hone their skills. Prof. Meadows came to India in the late 1980s along with Mr Martin Redfern of BBC World Service to help the Indian Science Writers Association host two 5-day workshops on communicating science to the public (meant for science journalists). These workshops were held at NISTADS and IISc, thanks to the generous support of Prof. Ashok Jain and Prof. C N R Rao. Their visit was financially and logistically supported by the British Council. Prof. Meadows was an ardent lover of cricket. When he was in Delhi, I asked him if I could do anything for him as his host. He said he would like to meet the great cricketer Lala Amarnath whom he had seen play in England when he was a schoolkid. Thanks to help from Mr Chandran, former MD of PTI, I could take Prof. and Mrs Meadows and Mr Redfern to the residence of not only Mr Amarnath for a hour-long chat over drinks but also to the bungalow of the great Nawab of Pataudi for tea. And Mrs Chandran invited the Meadows and Mr Redfern home for some authentic Indian food. Prof. C K Ramaiah of the Pondicherry University did his doctoral work under the guidance of Prof. Meadows, and a few years ago he had invited him to a conference at Pondicherry. Arun http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4398-4658 http://www.researcherid.com/rid/B-9925-2009 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.