Marcia Lei Zeng, Ph.D., a distinguished Professor of Information Science at Â鶹´«Ã½, was recognized with the prestigious ASIS&T 2024 Award of Merit, the highest honor presented by the Association for Information Science & Technology. This award recognizes her exceptional and sustained contributions to the field of information science, particularly highlighting her impact on theory, scholarship, practice, leadership, education and mentoring.
"This recognition is well deserved, and evidence of the incredible impact Dr. Zeng has made globally as an information scientist." – Dr. Meghan Harper
Dean Amy Reynolds, Ph.D., of the College of Communication and Information, said of the award: “This is a well-deserved honor for Marcia, who is a pioneer in the information sciences field. She is a wonderful global ambassador for Kent State, and a mentor to so many graduates of the iSchool. I am very proud to call her my colleague.â€
With a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and extensive academic credentials, Dr. Zeng has established herself as a leading scholar in knowledge organization systems, linked data, metadata, smart data, semantic technologies and digital humanities. Her remarkable record of academic achievements includes over 100 research papers, six books and more than 200 national and international conference presentations and keynote speeches.
Her research has garnered significant support from prestigious organizations like the National Science Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, OCLC and Fulbright. Dr. Zeng's academic excellence has been recognized locally as well, with Â鶹´«Ã½ honoring her with the Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award in 2014 and the President's Faculty Excellence Award in 2016.
iSchool Director Dr. Meghan Harper said “Dr. Zeng’s contributions to the field have strengthened the School of Information’s standing internationally and her dedication to students in the classroom as mentor, scholar and educator have benefited students here for decades. This recognition is well deserved, and evidence of the incredible impact Dr. Zeng has made globally as an information scientist.â€
Beyond her scholarly work, Dr. Zeng has been deeply involved in professional organizations, serving on numerous committees and boards. Her involvement spans critical international bodies including IFLA, SLA, ASIS&T, NISO, ISO, DCMI and W3C. Currently, she serves on the DCMI Governing Board and the International Society for Knowledge Organization Board of Directors.
In her nomination, Marjorie Hlava praised Zeng as a quiet yet profound contributor to the field, emphasizing her exceptional teaching and global impact, particularly in metadata and controlled vocabularies.
Upon receiving the award, Dr. Zeng expressed profound honor, reflecting on how receiving the ASIS&T Doctoral Forum Award in 1992 initially encouraged her commitment to information science education and research. She also recognized in her speech the support she received from university administration including President Todd Diacon's backing her to become a Senior Fulbright Scholar Taiwan in 2016, which led to her becoming a Cultural Ambassador with many subsequent international recognitions.