OCLC President and CEO Jay Jordan To Retire; Will Leave Position In One Year
Jay Jordan will retire as President and CEO of OCLC Online Computer Library Center on June 30, 2012. The announcement was made today by OCLC Board Chair Larry Alford at the OCLC President’s Luncheon during the Annual Conference of the American Library Association in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“Jay Jordan has informed the OCLC Board of Trustees of his desire to retire as President and CEO in June 2012,” saidOCLC Board Chair [Larry] Alford. “Jay wanted to give us sufficient advance notice to provide time for a thorough search and a smooth transition for his successor. The Board is forming a search committee and is preparing to launch an international search for the fifth President and CEO of OCLC.”
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In his remarks at the OCLC President’s Luncheon, Mr. Jordan stated: “It has been an honor to serve the OCLC cooperative. OCLC is an exceptional organization with an active and committed membership and a dedicated staff. OCLC’s Founder Fred Kilgour was fond of saying that OCLC was like the first flight of the Wright Brothers—12 seconds off the ground. That was 40 years ago. Today, our new WMS services are just getting off the ground, and I look forward to handing off to my successor a strong organization with an exciting set of opportunities.”
According to Mr. Alford, the composition of the Search Committee will be announced in the near future.
OCLC has had four presidents since its founding in 1967:
Frederick G. Kilgour (1967-1980)
Rowland C. W. Brown (1980-1989)
K. Wayne Smith (1989-1998)
Jay Jordan (1998-)
Mr. Jordan, 68, became OCLC’s fourth President and CEO on May 8, 1998. Since then, the number of libraries participating in the OCLC cooperative has grown from 30,000 to more than 72,000. The number of participating institutions outside the U.S. has increased from 3,200 in 64 countries to 16,215 in 170 countries. At the same time, the OCLC cooperative has become global in its governance, with regional councils in the Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe, the Middle East and Africa sending delegates to a new Global Council.
Read the Complete News Release (incl. “Highlights” of OCLC “Accomplishments” Since 1998
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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