March 11, 2011
TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Denise Stephens as our next University Librarian, effective July 1, 2011.
Denise is currently the Strategic and Organizational Research Librarian at the University of Kansas, where she previously had oversight of library and information technology activities as Vice Provost for Information Services and Chief Information Officer from 2005 to 2010. Her experience includes lead roles in library research, library administration and planning, information management and policy, and program assessment at the University of Virginia, the University of Kansas, and Syracuse University. She was the acting University Librarian at Syracuse before returning to the University of Kansas to assume the Vice Provost role. She holds a master's degree in library science from the University of Oklahoma and is an alumna of the Association of Research Libraries Leadership and Career Development Program. Her research interests include organizational and change leadership, an area in which she has produced several publications and presentations. Denise has served on numerous library and information technology advisory committees and boards, including the Depository Library Council of the U.S. Public Printer, BioOne, the Simmons College Ph.D. program in Managerial Leadership, the Great Plains Network, Educause, and the Kansas Research and Education Network. Her background makes her extremely well suited to lead our libraries into the future.
I would like to sincerely thank the co-chairs of our search advisory committee, Dean Jane Conoley and Associate Vice Chancellor John Talbott, and all of the members listed below, as well as Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas, Academic Senate Chair Henning Bohn, and our many other campus colleagues who participated in the search and recruitment process. We are also deeply grateful for the dedicated leadership that has been provided during this critical interim period by our co-Acting University Librarians Lucia Snowhill and Sherry DeDecker.
Our libraries are at the heart of the academic life of our campus, and we look forward to Denise's leadership. Please join us in welcoming her to UC Santa Barbara.
Sincerely,
Henry T. Yang
Chancellor
Search Advisory Committee for the University Librarian
Jane Conoley, Co-Chair; Dean and Professor, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education
John Talbott, Co-Chair; Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel; Professor, History
Gerardo Aldana, Associate Professor, Chicana and Chicano Studies
Timothy Benson, Associated Students Representative
Omer Blaes, Professor, Physics
James Blascovich, Professor, Psychology
Michael Brown, Acting Dean of Extended Learning Services; Professor, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Mattanjah de Vries, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Jennifer Earl, Associate Professor, Sociology
Colter Frazier, Library Assistant, Davidson Library
James Frew, Associate Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management; Chair, Academic Senate Committee on Library, Information, and Instructional Resources
Frederic Gibou, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Jason Linn, Graduate Students Association Representative
Lorraine McDonnell, Professor, Political Science
Laurie Monahan, Associate Professor, History of Art and Architecture
Eunice Schroeder, Music Librarian
David Tambo, Head of Special Collections, Davidson Library
Ann Taves, Professor, Religious Studies
Bruce Tiffney, Dean, College of Creative Studies; Professor, Earth Science
Heather Zheng, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Consultant to the Committee:
Ricardo Alcaíno, Director, Office of Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment/Title IX Compliance