Professor Roy M. Mersky, the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and longtime director of the Tarlton Law Library and Jamail Center for Legal Research at The University of Texas School of Law, died May 6, 2008 in Austin. Mersky, a decorated World War II veteran and civil rights advocate, was 82.
Under Professor Mersky’s more than forty years of stewardship, Tarlton’s collections and services expanded, and the Library became recognized as one of the most distinguished law libraries in the nation.
Professor Mersky will be uniquely honored at the American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting in Portland this July. He was chosen to receive the Frederick Charles Hicks Award for Outstanding Contributions to Academic Law Librarianship from the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries. Additionally, The Spirit of Law Librarianship Award Committee has announced that its annual award will now be known as the "Roy M. Mersky Spirit of Law Librarianship Award," in honor of its co-creator and co-founder. The award was created to recognize and celebrate individual law librarians engaged in significant acts of charitable work or community or social service. Both awards will be presented to Professor Mersky posthumously at the Annual Meeting.
This coming September, the University of Texas Law School will host a memorial service in honor of Mersky. The exact date and time of the service has yet to be announced.
An exhibit honoring Professor Mersky and his many and varied contributions is displayed in the Susman Godfrey Atrium of the University of Texas Law School. Photographs, clippings, and other materials celebrate Mersky’s many accomplishments.
The exhibit recognizes Mersky’s impact on the Tarlton Law Library, and commemorates his interest in legal research and writing. Other aspects of Professor Mersky’s life, including his service in World War II, his passion for the United States Supreme Court, and his dynamic personality, are represented in the exhibit.
Archives assistant Jennifer Cummings researched the exhibit, and assembled it in collaboration with Melanie Cofield, electronic publishing specialist, and Melissa Bernstein, reference librarian.
Read more about the life and legacy of Professor Roy M. Mersky and view a photo gallery.