Wess
has been an SLA member since 1974. He was chapter President in 1995-1996. He’s
organized chapter dinner programs, professional development courses and
nominations. He’s chaired the Finance committee many times, most recently in
2005. He helped found the association’s Gay and Lesbian Issues Caucus with
Frank Lopez in 1994.
In
his quiet and steady way, Wess likes to mobilize and implement projects. When
the Academy of Art College needed a library for their accreditation in the late
70’s, he started one from scratch. He started the library at Degenkelb
engineers. After working there for 20 years, he left to open the SF office of
AIM, Advanced Information Management. Now he’s at Krames, the health and safety
education publishers.
If
you ask Wess about his achievements, he talks about his pride in the chapter,
about how well it’s viewed at the association level for its healthy finances,
great newsletter, high quality programming. All true. He’ll talk about how glad
he is to be a part of such a dynamic, diverse group of professionals. He
genuinely savors his SLA volunteer work, seeing it as a way to learn and a way
of advancing the interests of the profession. He’s that modest.
If
you ask his colleagues about Wess, they are glad for the chance to praise him.
They consider themselves beneficiaries of his talent for getting things done.
“He’s one of the unsung leaders, always ready to help out and take on a myriad
of responsibilities,” said Past President Marlene Vogelsang.
“He’s
so approachable and even-keeled. He has a calm ability,” said another Past
President, Maggie O’Brien, who recalled how good he was at identifying talent
within the chapter and helping to promote future leaders during her term as President.
Nominations
Committee member and law librarian Mark Mackler cited Wess’ “encyclopedic
knowledge” of chapter history and member involvement. “He has a calm, curious
nature and he does the research,” said Mark. “When he worked at AIM [an employment
agency for information professionals], he called me often to learn about the
law library community and NOCALL structure so he’d know more about placements
to help clients.”
Wess
lived in Hawaii and Alaska before moving to the Bay Area. He returns regularly
to those places for family visits and vacations. At a young man, his travel bug
led him to spend two years in the Peace Corps in Iran in the 1970s, before the
revolution there. When it came time to return to the US, he traveled around the
world first, stopping in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan. He
and his partner, Tatsuo Maruyama, continue to enjoy traveling to Europe,
Mexico, the Caribbean, Japan and Key West.
Congratulations to Wess for winning the chapter’s 2006
Professional Achievement Award. Knowing him, this won’t mark the end of his
contributions to the chapter. We hope he continues his remarkable, intelligent
and inquisitive journey in the profession and the world knowing how much he’s
appreciated and respected by his peers.
—Chris Orr, SLA-SF Awards Committee Chair, 2006-2007