Charles D. Eckman Appointed Dean of Libraries at University of Miami

From the U. of Miami:

Charles D. Eckman, who launched initiatives and programs that helped dramatically improve the research libraries at some of North America’s top universities, has been named the University of Miami’s new dean of libraries, a
[Clip]
Eckman, who is currently dean of library services and university librarian at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, will assume his new role at UM on December 1. He replaces William D. Walker, who had held the post since 2003 before stepping down last May to rejoin the faculty.
[Clip]
At Simon Fraser, Eckman led a strategic planning process that resulted in a five-year plan for the library’s engagement within the university and with external communities. He also spearheaded a sustainability planning process for the Public Knowledge Project, a global scholarly communications initiative hosted at the SFU Library, and he collaborated with the dean of graduate studies to develop a Research Commons program within the library.
[Clip]
Eckman, who was associate university librarian and director of collections at UC-Berkeley before he joined Simon Fraser, said he is “looking forward to working with the senior leadership at UM Libraries to identify strategic priorities and the critical recruitments that need to take place.”
“These are challenging times for higher education. There are tremendous transformations under way in the delivery of instruction and in the conduct of research,” Eckman explained. “Libraries have been at the heart of the higher education enterprise for a long time. In order for them to remain at the core of that enterprise and to provide the contribution that really only they can provide even as the modes of the delivery of education are changing, they need to be vibrant, dynamic, and responsive and listen to their communities very closely.”

Read the Complete Announcement
See Also: Conference Presentation (Slides): “Research Trends and Open Access Publishing”
A recent presentation by Eckman.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Jobs, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Open Access, Scholarly Communications