IN HOMAGE TO ARTURO FERNÁNDEZ
May his soul rests in everlansting Peace.
An ACURIL Past President
Dear colleagues and friends, It is with great sorrow that we inform about the sad demise of our loved colleague Prof. Arturo Fernández-Ortiz, on Thursday, March 26, 2020, around 5:00 pm, at the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Arturo Fernández-Ortiz was Director and Professor of the Graduate School of Information Sciences and Technologies, at the University of Puerto Rico, from 1976 to 1987, and later on served as full professor in its faculty; served as President of the Society of Librarians of Puerto Rico (SBPR) in the eighties; was President of ACURIL (Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries), from 1993-94; and served as Secretary of the Academic Senate at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, among other positions of leadership in the Puerto Rican and international educational field.
As President of ACURIL, he was an Executive Council member, from 1990-1995, and in charge of the annual conference dedicated to the topic Diversity and Information in the Caribbean: Systems and Services, from April 23 to 29, 1994, in Oranjestad, Aruba. As faculty member, at the Graduate School of Information Sciences and Technologies, among other research works, he directed the research project Proposal of Pioneers in Puerto Rican Librarianship,, along with professors Luisa Vigo-Cepeda and Carlos Suárez Balseiro. The project was elaborated by master students Brenda Pérez-Martínez and Balbina Rojas-Sánchez. The research was presented and approved in August 2009. Due to the crisis in which we find ourselves, curfew declared by the Puerto Rican Government.
Due to the crisis in which we find ourselves, and the curfew declared by the Puerto Rican Government, we could not be present at his wake or burial for one last farewell. However, Carmen Margarita Santos-Corrada, Jeannette Lebrón-Ramos and Luisa Vigo-Cepeda, Executive Council members, gathered with other colleagues and conducted a virtual prayer session of the Holy Rosary, for the eternal rest of his soul, on Friday, March 27, at 7:00 pm. The virtual prayer session was conducted using the Google Meet technology. The session was led by Prof. Carmen Margarita Santos-Corrada, Director of the Conrado Asenjo Library, of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.
ACURIL expresses deep and heartfelt condolences to the sorrowing family and joins in their prayers for Arturo. May the Lord Almighty take his soul to Heaven and give the entire family strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss.
ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN UNIVERSITY, RESEARCH AND INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARIES
Email: executivesecretariat@acuril.org
Website: https://acuril.org/
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Phone: (787)612-9343
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acurileans/