Mary Lee Kennedy Named New Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
From Today’s ARL Announcement:
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Board of Directors has appointed Mary Lee Kennedy executive director of the Association, effective April 1, 2018. Kennedy is currently principal of the Kennedy Group, where she partners with organizations to empower local and global communities to create and use knowledge that enhances lives
“The search committee and the ARL Board are impressed by Mary Lee’s strategic thinking; global perspective and experience; demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion; domain expertise in scholarly communications, education, and IT; and consensus-building nature,” said Mary Ann Mavrinac, president of ARL and vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly dean of the University of Rochester Libraries. “Mary Lee has lived in Canada, the US, and Mexico; is bilingual in English and Spanish; and has a working knowledge of French. She is truly North American in her outlook, which will serve our Association well.”
Kennedy will come to ARL with a wealth of experience in academic research libraries and knowledge corporations, most recently New York Public Library (NYPL), where she held the position of chief library officer (2013–2016). Prior to NYPL, she served at Harvard University as senior associate provost for the Harvard Library (2011–2013) and executive director of Knowledge and Library Services, Harvard Business School (2004–2011). Before going to Harvard, she was director of the Knowledge Network Group at Microsoft (1998–2004). Kennedy earned her BA in social psychology and classics at University of Alberta and her master of library science at Louisiana State University.
“I am thrilled to have been selected to be the next ARL executive director, particularly given the significant moment in history in which we find ourselves, and the many opportunities for research libraries to make a difference,” said Kennedy. “I look forward to building on ARL’s strengths as a leader and partner in the research and learning ecosystem, as a catalyzer of global opportunity and value through its suite of programs and projects, and as a culture that embraces innovation, diversity, and inclusion.”
See Also: What was ARL Looking for in a New Executive Director?
Here’s the announcement for the job that was posted last summer (via Google’s Cache).
Filed under: Academic Libraries, Associations and Organizations, Jobs, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Scholarly Communications
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.