LIBRARY DIRECTOR AND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN The University of Chicago invites applications and nominations for the position of Library Director and University Librarian. Reporting to the Provost, the Library Director is a critical partner in, and facilitator of, the rigorous intellectual engagement that characterizes the University of Chicago. The new Library Director will have a tremendous opportunity to work across the entire university, building upon the Library’s exceptional service-oriented culture in order to further the rigorous academic goals of the University. Working with a team of approximately 200 talented and dedicated library staff, the new Library Director will lead the process of developing and implementing a comprehensive strategic vision for the future of the Library, in terms of both its role within the University ecosystem and its relationship to the fast-changing world of information management. The new Library Director will be an experienced and effective leader who will be a champion for the centrality of the library in an academic research university. The new Library Director should bring a creative, intellectual, and collaborative spirit to the challenge of making a library that is already well respected and beloved for the depth of its collections and prominence both on- and off-campus even more central to the University of Chicago’s mission and even more recognized around the nation and world. The Joseph Regenstein Library University of Chicago, Library Director and University Librarian Page 2 ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY The University of Chicago is a research university in a dynamic urban setting that has driven new ways of thinking since 1890. The University’s commitment to free and open inquiry draws inspired scholars to its global campuses, where ideas are born that challenge and change the world. The University of Chicago empowers individuals to question conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. Students in the College develop critical, analytic, and writing skills in its rigorous, interdisciplinary core curriculum. Through graduate programs, students test their ideas with UChicago scholars, and become the next generation of leaders in academia, industry, nonprofits, and government. UChicago research has led to breakthroughs such as discovering the link between cancer and genetics, establishing revolutionary theories of economics, and developing tools to produce reliably excellent urban schooling. The University generates new insights for the benefit of present and future generations with its national and affiliated laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois; and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Within the University’s programs of study and academic departments, more than 2,300 full-time faculty educate approximately 7,000 undergraduate students and 10,000-plus graduate, professional, and other students. The undergraduate College consists of 52 majors and 41 minors; four graduate divisions (Biological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences) and seven schools (Booth School of Business, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, the Divinity School, Harris School of Public Policy, the Law School, Pritzker School of Medicine, and Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) support and provide homes for a full range of graduate and professional study. The University of Chicago is enriched by the city it calls home. In partnership with its neighbors, the University invests in Chicago's mid-South Side in health, education, economic growth, and the arts. Together with its medical center, the University is the largest private employer on the South Side. HISTORY On July 9, 1890, the University’s founders defined what they believed would build an enduring legacy: a commitment to rigorous academics for people of all backgrounds, including “opportunities for all departments of higher education to persons of both sexes on equal terms.” An initial pledge of $600,000 (more than $25 million in today’s currency) from John D. Rockefeller, along with contributions from the American Baptist Education Society and land from Marshall Field, helped to found the University of Chicago. William Rainey Harper, the University’s first president, envisioned a university that was “‘bran splinter new,’ yet as solid as the ancient hills”—a modern research university that would combine an English- style undergraduate college and a German-style graduate research institute. The University’s first buildings were modeled after the English Gothic architectural style used at Oxford, complete with towers, spires, cloisters, and grotesques. The campus landscape was shaped by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s designs for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, which was just a short walk from where the University held its first classes. University of Chicago, Library Director and University Librarian Page 3 Harper recruited the highest-quality faculty possible, including several college presidents, who were drawn to the University of Chicago by the idea of a community of great scholars. In his address marking the University’s 1902 decennial, Harper reminded his audience of the University’s most important tradition: “Complete freedom of speech on all subjects,” he declared, “has from the beginning been regarded as fundamental in the University of Chicago. This principle can neither now nor at any future time be called in question.” By 1910, the University had developed a variety of traditions, including a coat of arms bearing a phoenix emerging from the flames and a Latin motto, Crescat scientia; vita excolatur (“Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched”). In 1894, maroon had become the University’s official color and “the Maroons” its nickname. In 1907, the University of Chicago’s first Nobel laureate, Albert A. Michelson— the first of many Nobel laureates from the University, as well as the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any of the sciences— was recognized for his breakthrough advancements in measuring the speed of light. Since then, University faculty, scholars, students, and alumni have been recognized with the highest international honors in their fields. The Mansueto Grand Reading Room University of Chicago, Library Director and University Librarian Page 4 DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Since its founding, the University of Chicago has been an open institution, committed to attracting the best minds across all disciplines and modes of inquiry. In the fall of 2017, the University renewed that commitment by launching the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative. The Diversity & Inclusion Initiative was created in response to the results of the 2016 Campus Climate Survey and based upon input from the Diversity Advisory Council, a faculty group that examined diversity issues on the University’s campus. Today, the University is focused on fostering an intellectual environment that invites all people to belong, find community, contribute, and grow, regardless of their background or belief systems. This is a campus-wide effort, building upon the important work that was already underway and led by students, staff, faculty, and other members of the campus community. To support and further this work, the University has developed a strategic approach, in concert with senior leadership, engaged critical offices, and launched key initiatives—all of which provide the necessary framework for ongoing, systemic, and lasting change. For more information on the University’s Diversity & Inclusion Initiative, please visit: https://diversityandinclusion.uchicago.edu/. LEADERSHIP On February 25, 2021, the University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees named Paul Alivisatos as the University’s 14th president. He will assume his role on September 1, 2021. An accomplished leader in higher education and a world-renowned scientist, Alivisatos is currently executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the Samsung Distinguished Professor of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in the Department of Chemistry and the former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A native of Chicago, Alivisatos is also a University of Chicago alumnus, having received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1981. Alivisatos will become only the second University of Chicago graduate to serve as University president in its 130-year history. A preeminent scientist and entrepreneur, Alivisatos has made pioneering research breakthroughs in nanomaterials. His inventions are widely used in biomedicine and QLED TV displays, and his scientific advances have yielded more than 50 patents. He also founded two prominent nanotechnology companies: Nanosys, Inc. and Quantum Dot Corp. (now part of Thermo Fisher). Among his more than 25 awards and honors, Alivisatos has received the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, and the Priestley Medal. It also was announced recently that Alivisatos will share the prestigious international BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. University of Chicago, Library Director and University Librarian Page 5 After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago, Alivisatos earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986. Alivisatos joined the