Paul Spence

Paul Herbert Spence (born December 25, 1923; died August 15, 2016 in Jefferson County) was the founding director of the UAB Sterne Library. He was born in Geraldine, DeKalb County to John C. Spence and Leila Carrell Spence.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater. After the war he graduated from Emory University and later received his Ph.D. in Library Science from the University of Illinois. He retired in 1988, but continued to work until May 2014 as Professor Emeritus.

He married Ruth M. Schmidt of Montgomery in 1954 and they raised three sons.