Naresh Agarwal, hailing from Sikkim, has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Watson Davis Award for Service by the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T). Agarwal will join a prestigious list of 63 leaders and luminaries who have received this award since its inception in 1976. He will be honoured at the 2024 ASIS&T annual meeting, scheduled to be held from October 25-29, 2024, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Agarwal, a Professor and Director of the Information Science & Technology Concentration at Simmons University in Boston, USA, is also a Past President of ASIS&T. Born and raised in Gangtok, he is the son of Durga Devi Agarwal and the late Marulal Agarwal. He served as the School Captain of Tashi Namgyal Academy in 1994. Agarwal completed his Computer Engineering on a full scholarship at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and earned his PhD from the National University of Singapore after spending six years in the industry.
ASIS&T, headquartered in the USA since 1937, is the leading international association for thousands of researchers and practitioners from over 50 countries. The association focuses on innovating theories and technologies and studying how people interact with information and technology. The Watson Davis Award recognizes an individual ASIS&T member who has demonstrated continuous dedicated leadership and service, making substantial and lasting contributions to ASIS&T governance, chapters, special interest groups, committees, and publications.
Naresh Agarwal served as the President of ASIS&T from 2021 to 2022. Since 2008, he has held various roles within the organization, including Board member, conference co-chair, and founder of the South Asia chapter. In 2012, he received the James Cretsos Leadership Award, was recognized as a Distinguished Member in 2021, and was named a Lifetime Member in 2024. During his presidency, he focused on member engagement, advancing the Strategic Plan, translating the ‘About ASIS&T’ page into 28 languages, and launching a mentorship program.
Agarwal’s research interests lie in information behavior and knowledge management. His first book, ‘Exploring Context in Information Behavior,’ was published by Morgan & Claypool in 2018. His second book, ‘Engineering to Ikigai,’ was published in 2021 in South Asia and internationally as ‘You Know the Glory, Not the Story.’ He is currently co-authoring a book on knowledge management in libraries. Agarwal has been a keynote and invited speaker in several countries, including India, Bangladesh, China, France, Iran, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, the UK, and the USA.
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