Elizabeth Liddy has never applied for a job.

She founded the software company Textwise in 1994 and served as CEO for five years. She was then named Founding Director of Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies’ Center for Natural Language Processing before being named dean of the School of Information Studies in 2008.

Liddy embraces a spirit of entrepreneurship and creates her own opportunities. This was recognized as Liddy was appointed as interim vice chancellor and provost for Syracuse University on Jan. 1, after Eric Spina announced that he was stepping down in December. Liddy said she was surprised and honored to be chosen for the position, and though she loved being dean of the iSchool, she was happy to support the university.

“I love learning new things and trying new things, that part of it was exciting,” Liddy said. “Since then it’s just been heads down learning all kinds of things I didn’t know about.”

Liddy’s work at the iSchool was fueled by the same passion for entrepreneurship that has marked her career, her colleagues said.

“Liz is a dynamo, a very innovative and forward looking person. She strongly promotes experimentation and risk taking,” Jeffrey Stanton, who has been named interim dean of the iSchool, said in an email.

Liddy was very active in promoting inventive thinking among iSchool students, Stanton said. She was the driving force behind the creation of the information, design and startups minor, which provides introductory entrepreneurship skills and knowledge for undergraduate and graduate students.

Liddy said that she is proud of the entrepreneurial attitude the iSchool has developed and the experimental, hands-on learning that has become its signature.

“This is what it’s really like: they don’t read business plans, they do it,” Liddy said. “They come up with their idea, they have to do all the customer testing, form groups and teams, from idea to startup.”

Stanton said that he also remembers Liddy as being a pioneer of social media at the iSchool and SU.

“She recognized the importance of social media long before most other people did, nearly 10 years ago now,” Stanton said. “She got the iSchool involved not just in teaching about social media but in helping the larger university community take advantage of it.”

J.D. Ross, director of communications at the iSchool, called Liddy an “energetic force” who was always inspiring students, staff and faculty to grow and try new things.

“She worked with faculty to recognize areas of growth and acted quickly on them. Recently this has not only included social media, but the field of data science as well,” Ross said.

Under Liddy, the iSchool was the first institution in New York state to offer a graduate certificate in data science when the program was launched in 2012, Ross said.

As interim vice chancellor and provost, Liddy said that much of her focus is now on the academic strategic plan, which is a part of the university-wide initiative Fast Forward Syracuse.

The strategic plan “defines the university’s vision and strategic direction, details the university’s priorities and identifies specific actions and plans to pursue and investments that must be made,” according to the Fast Forward Syracuse website.

In an approach that was created by Spina, the former vice chancellor and provost, and continued by Liddy, the academic strategic plan is sustained by seven working groups which focus on different academic areas of the university.

The groups create surveys, hold forums and conduct interviews and their own investigations to gather inputs from across the campus, Liddy said. All of that data is used to create recommendations and then craft the plan. The goal for the plan is to have it out by May, Liddy added.

Liddy said that her transition so far has been exhilarating, but also exhausting.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but as a provost from another university said to me ‘Don’t worry, the second time you have to do something it will be much easier,’” Liddy said. “So everything I’m doing now is the first time.”

Liddy’s colleagues said they have nothing but hope and high expectations for her future endeavors.

“I’m not a gambling guy, but if I were I would put my money on Liz’s success,” said Stanton, the iSchool interim dean. “She will surround herself with talented people and give each of them the chance to shine. In my thinking, that is a formula for success.”

Published on January 14, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Lydia: lawilson@syr.edu