David Lankes, director of the School of Library and Information Science at USC, has stepped down from his position and will return to a faculty role to focus on his health. Assistant Professor Dick Kawooya will become the interim director in Lankes' absence.
Lankes recently underwent chemotherapy to treat cancer.
"Tremendous colleague. We suppprt [sic] and value his continued contributions to @slisSS and @UofSC_CIC," said Tom Reichert, the dean of the College of Information and Communications.
In Lankes' absence, he will be undergoing his second allogeneic stem cell transplant, a year-long process. He underwent the procedure a few years ago where he was his own donor. This time, his son will fill that role.
"My son is going to save my life," Lankes said in a blog post.
To read Lankes' full blog post, click here.