Janet Doe Lectureship

The Janet Doe Lectureship was established in 1966 by an anonymous donation to support a lecture in honor of Janet Doe (1895–1985), former librarian of the New York Academy of Medicine, historical scholar, past president of the association, and editor of the first two editions of the Medical Library Practice handbook.

Criteria

• Nominee must be a member of MLA.
  • Membership dates may be confidentially confirmed by MLA Member Services.
• The nominee shall have been an active member of the profession a sufficient number of years to have acquired a broad perspective of medical librarianship and possess the qualities to communicate their experiences and ideas articulately.
• Nominees should be regular members of the association who have made a substantial contribution to its work. 
• The Janet Doe Jury will review nominations for eligibility and award points based on career achievement, impact of achievements, philosophical or historical perspective, and communication style:
  • Career Achievement:
    • leadership;
    • contribution to medical librarianship as a profession;
    • development of or sustained work within a particular area of the association;
    • dedicated service to medicine and the allied health sciences;
    • contributions to research or scholarship;
    • effectiveness in administration/management;
    • contributions to technology application and library practice; and/or
    • effectiveness in teaching and training.
  • Impact of Achievements
  • Philosophical or Historical Perspective
    • longevity in profession;
    • research which indicates thoughtful mentality to discuss topics and themes in the history of MLA.
  • Communication Style
    • evidence of good organization;
    • evidence of effective public speaking skills;
    • sense of humor.

Nominations

• The nomination form opens in mid-September.
• The online nomination must be completed and all supporting documents uploaded no later than the deadline listed below.
• Nominations are accepted from the MLA membership at large and from the members of the Janet Doe Lectureship Jury.
• The recipient will be notified in February, fifteen months before the lecture is to be given.

Supporting Documentation

• A current curriculum vitae of the nominee is required.
• Up to three letters of support may be included with the nomination. 
• Share information on nominee’s public speaking skills:
  • provide evidence that the nominee will be able to deliver a significant and compelling address at the annual conference.
  • include links to audio and/or video presentations given by the nominee.
• Provide any further information that may assist the jury in the evaluation and selection of the recipient.

Recipient

• The selected lecture is presented at the association’s annual conference and is subsequently published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association.
• The lecturer receives a $500 honorarium, and up to $1,700 to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for travel, one-day hotel and per diem, conference registration, guest ticket(s) for non-MLA members, and expenses related to research and/or preparation of the presentation. 
• The lecturer will be asked to share a photo for the virtual awards ceremony held in April and additional information for the MLA Conference program. 
• If there are no appropriate nominees, the association may elect not to present the lectureship award in a given year.

Ready to Submit a Nomination?

• Choose 2026 below.
• The nomination must be completed, and all supporting documents uploaded no later than December 6.

Published Lectures

Links to published lectures are noted below.

• 2025: Jean P. Shipman, AHIP, FMLA
• 2024: Celebrating a Decade of Doe
  The Janet Doe Lecturers from the past 10 years present their thoughts on how MLA’s Core Value will help sustain the associations impart and help us thrive as health information professionals in the decades to come.
• 2023: Michelle Kraft, AHIP, FMLA: “One Leg at a Time: Medical Librarians and Fake News”
• 2022: Michael R. Kronenfeld, AHIP, FMLA: “Health Science Libraries in the Emerging Digital Information Era: Charting the Course”
• 2021: Sandra G. Franklin, AHIP, FMLA: “Diversity That Defines Us: The View Through a Crystal Lens”
• 2020: Chris Shaffer, AHIP, FMLA: “The Move to Open: Medical Library Leadership in Scholarly Communication“
• 2019: Gerald J. Perry, AHIP, FMLA: “The Activist Health Sciences Librarian“
• 2018: Elaine Russo Martin, FMLA: “Social Justice and the Medical Librarian” 
• 2017: Julia Sollenberger, AHIP, FMLA: “Looking inside Ourselves: A Culture of Kindness”
• 2016: M.J. Tooey, AHIP, FMLA : “We Can Be Heroes: MLA’s Leadership Journey(s)”
• 2015: Barbara A. Epstein, AHIP, FMLA: “In their own words: oral histories of Medical Library Association past presidents.”
• 2014: Margaret Moylan Bandy, AHIP, FMLA: “Pivoting: Leveraging Opportunities in a Turbulent Health Care Environment”
• 2013: Joanne Gard Marshall, AHIP, FMLA: “Linking Research to Practice: The Rise of Evidence-Based Health Sciences Librarianship“
• 2012: Mark E. Funk, AHIP, FMLA: “Our Word, Our Story: A Textual Analysis of Articles Published in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association/Journal of the Medical Library Association from 1961 to 2010“
• 2011: T. Scott Plutchak, AHIP, FMLA: “Breaking the Barriers of Time and Space: The Dawning of the Great Age of Librarians“
• 2010: Ana D. Cleveland, AHIP, FMLA: “Miles to Go Before We Sleep: Education, Technology, and the Changing Paradigms in Health Information”
• 2009: J. Michael Homan, AHIP, FMLA: “Eyes on the Prize: Reflections on the Impact of the Evolving Digital Ecology on the Librarian, as Expert Intermediary and Knowledge Coach, 1969–2009”
• 2008: Thomas G. Basler, FMLA: “There Are No More Giants:Changing Leadership for Changing Times”
• 2007: Henry L. Lemkau Jr., FMLA: “Constants, Context and Change: The Pursuit of Purpose”
• 2006: Julie J. McGowan, AHIP, FMLA: “Swimming with the Sharks: Perspectives on Professional Risk Taking”
• 2005: Fred Roper, AHIP, FMLA: “MLA’s Professional Development Programs: A Look Back at the Way Ahead “
• 2004: Rick Forsman, FMLA: “Life and Death on the Coral Reef: An Ecological Perspective on Scholarly Publishing in the Health Sciences”
• 2003: Frieda O. Weise, FMLA: “Being There: The Library as Place”
• 2002: Jacqueline Donaldson Doyle, AHIP, FMLA: “A Job With A View: Perspectives from the Corporate Side of Health Care”
• 2001: Betsy L. Humphreys, FMLA: “Adjusting to Progress: Interactions Between NLM and Health Sciences Librarians, 1961–2001″
• 2000: Judith Messerle, AHIP, FMLA: “The Road Not Taken”
• 1999: Sherrilynne S. Fuller, FMLA: “Enabling, Empowering, Inspiring: Research and Mentorship Through the Years”
• 1998: Wayne J. Peay, FMLA: “Strategies and Measures for Our Next Century”
• 1997: T. Mark Hodges: “Musings on Our Meetings: MLA Conventions, ‘Ninety-Eight to Date”
• 1996: Robert M. Braude, AHIP, FMLA: “On the Origin of Species: Evolution of Health Sciences Librarianship”
• 1995: Jana Bradley, FMLA: “The Changing Face of Health Information: A Conceptual Framework”
• 1994: Nina W. Matheson, AHIP, FMLA: “The Idea of the Library in the Twenty-First Century”
• 1993: Alison Bunting, AHIP, FMLA: “From Index Catalogue to Gopher Space: Changes in our Profession as Reflected in the Handbook and CPHSL“
• 1992: Alan M. Rees: “Communication in the Physician-Patient Relationship”
• 1991: Lois Ann Colaianni, AHIP, FMLA: “That Vision Thing”
• 1990: Ruth Holst, AHIP, FMLA: “Hospital Librarianship in Perspective”
• 1989: Rachael K. Anderson, AHIP, FMLA: “Reinventing the Medical Librarian”
• 1988: Gerald J. Oppenheimer, AHIP, FMLA: “Domus or Polis? The Location of Values”
• 1987: Erika Love, FMLA: “The Science of Librarianship: Investing in the Future”
• 1986: Virginia Holtz, AHIP, FMLA: “Measures of Excellence: The Search for the Gold Standard”
• 1985: Lucretia W. McClure, AHIP, FMLA: “The Promise of Fruit…and Light”
• 1984: Irwin H. Pizer: “Looking Backward, 1984–1959: Twenty-Five Years of Library Automation—A Personal View”
• 1983: Susan Crawford, AHIP, FMLA: “The Origin and Development of a Concept: The Information Society”
• 1982: Ursula H. Poland: “Reflections on the Medical Library Association’s International Activities”
• 1981: Robert G. Cheshier, AHIP, FMLA: “The Limits of the Comprehensible: Reflections on Medical Librarianship”
• 1980: David A. Kronick, AHIP, FMLA: “The Librarian’s Life, Scholarship and Librarianship”
• 1979: Gwendolyn S. Cruzat, AHIP, FMLA: “Medical Librarianship: A Systems Perspective”
• 1978: Martha Jane K. Zachert, AHIP, FMLA: “Books and Other Endangered Species: An Inquiry into the Values of Medical Librarianship”
• 1977: Erich Meyerhoff, AHIP, FMLA: “Foundations of Medical Librarianship”
• 1976: David Bishop: “On the Uses of Diversity”
• 1975: Harold Bloomquist: “The Medical Librarian as Manager; or the Fruits of Fadism”
• 1974: Jacqueline W. Felter: “Library Cooperation: Wave of the Future or Ripple”
• 1973: Louise Darling: “The View Behind and Ahead: Implications of Certification”
• 1972: Scott Adams: “The Way of the Innovator: Notes toward a Prehistory of MEDLARS”
• 1971: Estelle Brodman: “The Pursuit of Excellence”
• 1970: no lecture given
• 1969: Alfred N. Brandon: “Academic Status for Medical Librarians”
• 1968: Frank B. Rogers: “Problems of Medical Subject Cataloging”
• 1967: Gertrude L. Annan: “The Medical Library Association in Retrospect: 1937–1967”

Past Recipients

• 2024
• Celebrating a Decade of Doe
• 2023
• Michelle Kraft
• 2022
• Michael Kronenfeld
• 2021
• Sandra Franklin
• 2020
• Chris Shaffer
• 2019
• Gerald Perry
• 2018
• Elaine Martin
• 2017
• JULIA SOLLENBERGER
• 2016
• M.J. Tooey
• 2015
• Barbara Epstein
• 2014
• Margaret Bandy
• 2013
• Joanne Marshall
• 2012
• Mark Funk
• 2011
• T. Scott Plutchak
• 2010
• Ana Cleveland
• 2009
• J. Michael Homan
• 2008
• Thomas Basler
• 2007
• Henry Lemkau
• 2006
• Julie McGowan
• 2005
• Fred Roper
• 2004
• Rick Forsman
• 2003
• Frieda Weise
• 2002
• Jacqueline Doyle
• 2001
• Betsy Humphreys
• 2000
• Judith Messerle
• 1999
• Sherrilynne Fuller
• 1998
• Wayne Peay
• 1997
• T. Mark Hodges*
• 1996
• Robert Braude
• 1995
• Jana Bradley
• 1994
• Nina Matheson
• 1993
• Alison Bunting
• 1992
• Alan M. Rees
• 1991
• Lois Colaianni
• 1990
• Ruth Holst
• 1989
• Rachael Anderson
• 1988
• Gerald J. Oppenheimer, AHIP, FMLA
• 1987
• Erika Love, FMLA
• 1986
• Virginia Holtz, AHIP, FMLA
• 1985
• Lucretia W. McClure, AHIP, FMLA*
• 1984
• Irwin H. Pizer
• 1983
• Susan Crawford
• 1982
• Ursula H. Poland*
• 1981
• Robert G. Cheshier, AHIP, FMLA
• 1980
• David A. Kronick, AHIP, FMLA*
• 1979
• Gwendolyn Cruzat
• 1978
• Martha Jane K. Zachert, AHIP, FMLA
• 1977
• Erich Meyerhoff, AHIP, FMLA*
• 1976
• David Bishop*
• 1975
• Harold Bloomquist
• 1974
• Jacqueline W. Felter
• 1973
• Louise Darling*
• 1972
• Scott Adams*
• 1971
• Estelle Brodman*
• 1970
• none awarded
• 1969
• Alfred N. Brandon
• 1968
• Frank B. Rogers
• 1967
• Gertrude L. Annan