The members of HathiTrust have elected three member representatives to serve on its Board of Governors beginning in 2019. Mimi Calter, Stanford University, and Robert McDonald, University of Colorado Boulder, will serve three-year terms ending in December 2021. Holly Mercer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will serve a one-year term ending in December 2019.
Mimi Calter is Deputy University Librarian at Stanford University Libraries, where she has worked since 2005. Prior to joining Stanford, Calter worked as librarian and information specialist in the financial and pharmaceutical industries. She is a recognized leader in national and international library contexts, serving as a member of the Board of CLOCKSS, and now as the chair of IFLA's Academic & Research Libraries Committee. “The HathiTrust Board of Governors has a dual role in defining our future work and communicating and advocating for these priorities among the members,” said Calter, “I look forward to joining the Board to help the organization grow.”
Robert McDonald is Dean of University Libraries & Professor of Library Administration, University of Colorado Boulder, one of HathiTrust’s newest members. He is no stranger to HathiTrust, however. While serving as the Associate Dean for Research and Technology Strategies at Indiana University, McDonald was appointed to the Program Steering Committee, and he served as a member of the Executive Committee overseeing the work of the HathiTrust Research Center. “I am honored to serve as a member of the Board of Governors, especially at this moment as our community comes together to implement a brand new strategic plan and to pursue novel opportunities for use and analysis of this unique digital collection,” he said. McDonald has also served on the Board of CLOCKSS and is a current elected member of the ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL) Steering Committee.
Holly Mercer, Senior Associate Dean at the University of Tennessee, is a current member of the HathiTrust Program Steering Committee. Mercer commented that "At a time when the value of higher education institutions is being questioned, HathiTrust stands out as a notable public good. I look forward to working with the Board and staff to strengthen our ability to meet the needs of current researchers and access for future scholars.” Mercer joined Tennessee in 2012 as Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Research Services, after previous appointments at Texas A&M and the University of Kansas. Over the last several years she has also joined the Board of the Islandora Foundation and the Open Repositories Steering Committee.
Exiting the Board at the end of 2018 are Beth McNeil, Iowa State University; and Winston Tabb, Johns Hopkins University. Sarah Thomas, who is retiring from Harvard University, will leave the Board prior to the completion of her term. “It has been an honor to lead a Board with members such as Beth, Winston, and Sarah,” said John Culshaw, Chair of the Board of Governors. “Thanks to them for their dedicated service and commitment to moving HathiTrust forward.”
“The election of representatives to the Board is one of the more important things we do each year,” said Mike Furlough, Executive Director of HathiTrust. “Our newest Board members bring a broad range of experiences and expertise, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with them in this capacity.”
The HathiTrust Board of Governors has ultimate responsibility for HathiTrust's activities, strategy, finances, and operations. It includes six at-large members elected by the membership and six members appointed by the founding institutions, which include Indiana University, the University of California, the University of Michigan, and the members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The current members of the Board and their terms follow:
- Kenning Arlitsch, Montana State University (term ends December 2020)
- Yolanda Cooper, Emory University (term ends December 2020)
- John Culshaw, University of Iowa, chair, 2018 (appointed)
- Mike Furlough, Executive Director HathiTrust, ex officio
- James Hilton, University of Michigan (appointed)
- Wendy Lougee, University of Minnesota, past chair, 2018 (appointed)
- Beth McNeil, Iowa State University (term ends December 2018)
- Kevin Smith, University of Kansas (term ends December 2019)
- Virginia Steel, University of California, Los Angeles(appointed)
- Karla Strieb, The Ohio State University (ex-officio, Program Steering Committee Chair)
- Winston Tabb, Johns Hopkins University (term ends December 2018)
- Sarah Thomas, Harvard University (retiring December 2018)
- Günter Waibel, California Digital Library incoming chair, 2018 (appointed)
- Carolyn Walters, Indiana University (appointed)
Questions or media inquiry? Please contact Jessica Rohr, Member Engagement & Communications Specialist, at jbelle@hathitrust.org.
Author(s): Jessica Rohr