It is my pleasure to announce that Dale Askey is the University of Alberta's new Vice-Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian, effective August 15, 2018.
Dr. Askey currently serves as the Associate University Librarian for Library & Learning Technologies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he also occupies the role of Administrative Director of the Lewis & Ruth Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship. He has filled a wide range of roles in libraries, primarily in collection development, public services, Web services, and information technology management. After starting out in libraries and IT at Washington University in St. Louis, he embarked on his professional library career at the University of Utah, with subsequent stays at Yale University and Kansas State University before joining McMaster in 2011. In 2009-2010, he was a visiting professor in electronic publishing and multimedia at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, teaching in their library science, publishing, and museum studies programs. His ongoing research project is to document the cultural manifestations of the German-speaking minority that remained in the Czech and Slovak Republics after the 1946 expulsion decrees.
Dr. Askey tells me that he is delighted and honoured to be joining the University of Alberta as its next Vice Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian. He looks forward to helping to sustain and enhance the excellent reputation that our libraries, museums, and other units in the portfolio currently enjoy among their peers.
Dr. Askey replaces Gerald Beasley, who left the University in July 2017 to take up the role of University Librarian at Cornell. I want to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Kathleen DeLong for her service as Interim Vice-Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian since Mr. Beasley's departure. Dr. DeLong has done a wonderful job of leading the Learning Services portfolio and I am grateful for her dedication.
I would also like to thank the selection committee for their hard work and thoughtful approach during this selection process.
Steven Dew
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)