Dagnese, Joseph M., 1927-1989
Biographical Information
Joseph M. Dagnese was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 10, 1927, the son of Gennaro Francis and Carmella Veronica Martocci Dagnese.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Boston College in 1949. In 1951, he received his Master of Arts degree in English Literature and in 1952, a Masters of Science degree in Library Science from Catholic University of America. Additional graduate studies in German language and literature were completed at Heidelberg University in 1954-55. Returning to the United States in 1955, Mr. Dagnese became Assistant Head of the Cataloging Division of the Library at Catholic University. Before assuming the directorship at Purdue in 1972, he held a number of positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also served as Documents Librarian with Nuclear Metals and was a library consultant at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, Rajasthan, India.
Mr. Dagnese served 17 years during a period of transition and expansion of the University, and at the time of his death on January 27, 1989, he was engaged in the implementation of a statewide library network for sharing library resources.
He served higher education nationally in various capacities, always pursuing excellence in education. Mr. Dagnese was President of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) in 1979-80., was a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Research Libraries from 1981-84; was President of the Universal Serials Book Exchange in 1985, and completed several committee assignments for the Association of Research Libraries. He was elected a Fellow of SLA in 1987, and was serving as the SLA representative to the International Federation of Library Associations at the time of his death.
Citation:
Text was taken from the program for Mr. Dagnese's memorial service.Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Joseph M. Dagnese papers
The Joseph M. Dagnese papers contain information about his memorial service such as programs and correspondence between different university members planning the service. Dagnese's resume is included in the collection as well as a list of topics he focused on as director of the Purdue Libraries.
John M. Houkes papers
This collection consists of the papers of John Houkes. Materials primarily relate to the Purdue Business School (Krannert School of Business) and the Management and Economics Library, including the Krannert Special Collection of books on economics history. The papers include information on business schools, Joseph Dagnese, Dean John Day, gifts to the Library, annual meetings and committees. Please see PDF Finding Aid for collection inventory.