Alumna Julia Blixrud ’76 was honored in Washington, D.C., on October 8, 2015, with a memorial scholarship and annual lecture by the Association of Research Libraries. A number of family members attended the fall forum in which the inaugural Julia C. Blixrud Scholarship was awarded and the Julia C. Blixrud Memorial Lecture was delivered. Blixrud, of Lawrence, Kansas, was a longtime staff member of the Association of Research Libraries, most recently as assistant executive director for scholarly communication. She passed away in October, 2014.

Her mother, Eileen Blixrud, shared that in her role as a research librarian, she promoted access to information to libraries locally and all over the world, visiting Turkey, Malaysia, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Canada, as well as land grant colleges in the United States.

In a post after her passing, her employer noted: “Julia’s greatest professional legacy is likely her work dedicated to opening up access to information for all. Her personal legacy includes the effervescent energy and uncommon kindness that she generously gave to her family, friends, and colleagues with her enduring optimism, resilient character, and contagious smile. These personal and professional legacies are intertwined in many ways, perhaps illustrated most powerfully in an interview Julia gave to NBC News in 2004, discussing the importance of open access to information in the context of her own serious health challenges.”