Vice Provost for University Libraries

Vice Provost for University Libraries

University at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

The University at Buffalo (UB) invites inquiries, applications, and nominations for a visionary leader to serve as the next Vice Provost for University Libraries (VPUL). The vice provost will continue the development of UB’s world-class libraries in enabling 21st-century research and education by establishing innovation ecosystems, leveraging digital technology, providing innovative services and spaces and facilitating partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Impactful research, scholarly distinction, transformative student experiences and far-reaching service to local, state, national and international communities define UB’s mission as one of the nation’s leading public research universities. UB was founded in 1846 as a private medical college located in downtown Buffalo and joined the State University of New York (SUNY) system in 1962. Today UB is the largest and most comprehensive research university in the SUNY system and the first admitted to the AAU. UB currently enrolls more than 30,000 students (around two thirds undergraduate and one third graduate and professional students), and about 40 percent of UB’s undergraduates are the first in their families to earn a college degree.

As the largest academic research library in the SUNY system and a member of the prestigious Association of Research Libraries the University Libraries (UL) provide an outstanding array of digital and print resources, technologies and services to support research and education in both physical and virtual environments. Over the last decade, the UL has been actively engaged in transforming library collections, repurposing physical library spaces, and launching new services to meet the changing information needs of UB faculty and students whose teaching, learning and research is conducted in a digital environment. With the support of 45 faculty members and more than 70 staff, the VPUL oversees eight libraries that serve UB’s 12 schools and colleges.

UB seeks a visionary, dynamic, and collaborative leader to build on these activities and continue supporting the scholarly, educational and creative needs of university faculty, staff and students and the intellectual pursuits of alumni and the community. The VPUL will provide strategic vision for the UL and will collaborate with its stakeholders and the larger UB community to articulate and implement goals and strategies to meet these needs and support the University’s mission. Other important tasks for the new VPUL will include leveraging and growing the UL’s resources, advocating for and promoting the UL effectively, leading and further developing a strong, service-oriented faculty and staff and valuing and cultivating a culture of diversity and inclusion within the UL.

This position represents an outstanding opportunity for an experienced library leader with a history of decisive and innovative leadership, including managing human, financial, and physical resources. Successful candidates will have a record of excellence in teaching, research, and service appropriate to appointment at the rank of Full Librarian/Professor at a major research university, including a terminal degree.

For more information about the UB Libraries, please visit https://library.buffalo.edu/ 

Review of nominations and applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. All inquiries, nominations/referrals, and applications, including a curriculum vitae that is responsive to the challenges above, should be sent electronically and in confidence to:

Beverly Brady, Principal

Caitlin Barrett, Senior Associate

Isaacson, Miller

263 Summer Street

Boston, MA 02110

www.imsearch.com/6959

The University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. The University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic university community and is committed to providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, disabled individuals, and other protected groups.