Tyler Walters named dean of University Libraries
Tyler Walters, associate dean for technology and resource services at the Library and Information Center at Georgia Tech, has been named dean of University Libraries at Virginia Tech. He will begin his new position March 15.
Walters will succeed Eileen Hitchingham who will retire Feb. 1.
“Tyler Walters brings an outstanding vision to the university and will be an engaging and effective advocate for the libraries within the university and larger community,” said Virginia Tech Senior Vice President and Provost Mark McNamee. “His view of librarians as authoritative guides and stewards of the intellectual record, coupled with his commitment to position the libraries as a strong partner in all of the academic endeavors of the university, fit exceptionally well with the needs articulated by faculty and staff when we initiated the search.”
“Tyler is experienced in securing private gifts and grants and has an outstanding record of scholarship,” added McNamee. “He brings innovative ideas to address the complex collections and services issues faced by research libraries and understands the physical and virtual environment needs of future generations of scholars. He joins a dedicated and talented team of directors, staff, and faculty and I look forward to watching the growing distinction and prominence of our university libraries under his leadership.”
“I welcome this incredible opportunity to join the Virginia Tech community and lead its library information services and strategies into the future,” said Tyler “Everyone I spoke with here is very proud of being a part of Virginia Tech and is dedicated to seeing it be an even more vital, distinctive, and service-oriented university. I was amazed by the grace and energy I saw while visiting and I am excited about becoming a leader and contributor in this community.”
Walters began his career in 1987 as an assistant in the photographic archives unit of the North Carolina Division of Archives and History in Raleigh, N.C. From 1988 to 1992, he served as the assistant university archivist at the Northwestern University Library. In 1992, he went to the Iowa State University Library as assistant professor in the special collections department. He was promoted to associate professor and served as head of the special collections department from 1996 to 1998.
In 1998, he was appointed director of the William R. Haselton Library and Knowledge Center at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in Atlanta, now a unit of Georgia Tech. In 2002, he began as the associate director of digital and technical services at Georgia Tech, later as associate director for technology and resource services, and most recently as associate dean.
Walters has been a Fellow of the Association of Research Libraries’ Research Libraries Leadership Fellows Program from 2009 to 2010.
In 2007, the Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL) honored Georgia Tech with the ACRL Excellence in Libraries Award. Walters co-authored the application for the award, “a national tribute to a library and its staff for the outstanding services, programs and leadership they provide to their students, administrators, faculty, and community.” He is also the recipient of the Ernst Posner Award for the most outstanding article published in volume 59 of the American Archivist.
Walters has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. He has raised $3.3 million in grants and gifts while at Georgia Tech.
Walters has co-founded new inter-institutional organizations such as the MetaArchive Cooperative (digital preservation services) and the GALILEO Knowledge Repository (Georgia’s statewide repository service).
He also has been deeply involved in the Library of Congress’ (LC) National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program and has been a digital preservation consultant to LC’s American Folklife Center.
Walters serves on the steering committee for the International Conference on Open Repositories, the editorial board of the International Journal of Digital Curation, and the advisory board for the Digital Information Management Program in the School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona.
He has published more than 25 articles in journals such as the American Archivist, D-Lib Magazine, International Journal of Digital Curation, Journal of Digital Information, Library Hi-Tech, Library Trends, New Review of Information Networking, portal: Libraries and the Academy, and has given more than 70 conference presentations
Walters holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Northern Illinois University, a master’s degree in history and archives from North Carolina State University, a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Arizona, and is working toward a Ph.D. in managerial leadership in the information professions from Simmons College.
He will be joined in Blacksburg by his wife, Therese, and two children. Walters and his wife also have three older children who live and attend college in the Atlanta area.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
