Gary Wiggins Wins Patterson-Crane Award

GARY D. WIGGINS, director of the chemical informatics program in the School of Informatics at Indiana University, is the 2007 recipient of the Patterson-Crane Award of the ACS Columbus and Dayton Sections. Presented biennially, the award recognizes outstanding contributions in chemical information theory or practice.

Wiggins, who is probably best known for his development of the online networking service begun in 1991 called the Chemical Information Sources Discussion List (CHMINF-L), was one of the earliest librarians to foresee and adopt the intensive technological innovations of the past 30 years. His work has ensured that the Indiana University Chemistry Library has one of the finest collections of print and electronic materials available in any academic library. Many students have completed the Chemical Information Specialist Program under his mentorship and now hold positions in all areas of chemical, pharmaceutical, and patent information across corporate, academic, government, and nonprofit sectors.