Atkins named 2011 Marta Lange/CQ Press Award winner

CHICAGO – Stephen E. Atkins, former curator of the Dawson Collection and French Studies at the Cushing Library of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, has been posthumously awarded the 2011 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) Marta Lange/CQ Press Award. The award, established in 1996 by LPSS, honors an academic or law librarian who has made distinguished contributions to bibliography and information service in law or political science.

CQ Press, sponsor of the award, will present the $1,000 award and plaque to Atkins’ widow, Susan Atkins, during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

“During his life, Dr. Stephen E. Atkins, scholar and librarian, made distinguished contributions to the field of political science,” said award chair Mary Gilles, business and economics librarian at Washington State University. “His encyclopedias, reference handbook and annotated guide to sources in the area of arms control, security studies and terrorism are standard works in academic library reference collections. In addition, Dr. Atkins was dedicated to the profession, serving as chair of LPSS, 1989-1990, as well as in other roles and positions within ALA. Dr. Atkins possessed some of the finest qualities sought in LPSS Marta Lange/ CQ Press Award recipients.”

Atkins received his BA with honors in European history and his MA with honors in French history from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1963 and 1964. He earned his PhD in French history from the University of Iowa in 1976. In 1983, he earned his MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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