New Chapter: Becoming Dean at Elon University
Last week, I accepted an offer to become the Dean and University Librarian at Elon University in North Carolina. I’m thrilled to step into this role and join such a vibrant, pragmatic, values-driven community.
Elon is a fascinating institution, and deeply intentional in its design, culture, and mission. It's consistently recognized for excellence in undergraduate teaching and ranks among the top 15 nationally for innovation.
What drew me in even further was their Boldly Elon strategic plan—not just its content, but the clarity, structure, and transparency behind it. I’ve never encountered such an open and detailed institutional roadmap. It reflects a deep commitment to purpose and progress.
I first heard about Elon a few years ago through Frank Shushok, when we were both at Virginia Tech. At the time, I was developing a model that became Thinking Around the Box, and Frank recommended Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College a book by two Elon authors drawing on the university’s own insights: Peter Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and Leo Lambert, President Emeritus.
It was also during that time that I was expanding my understanding of High-Impact Practices. Many institutions offer these programs, such as service learning, undergraduate research, first-year experiences, and global engagement, often drawing from the AAC&U’s widely recognized framework. At Elon, it’s different. They don’t just offer these experiences, they embody them. It’s a strategic choice and a competitive advantage.
As someone who has spent much of my career in R1 institutions, this move also represents a conscious shift… a chance to explore a different kind of impact. Elon’s scale brings with it a kind of nimbleness that opens up real possibilities for new forms of collaboration, experimentation, and integration across programs. There are ways to stretch, engage, and build there that would be harder to pull off at a larger university. When you layer that with Elon’s relationship-rich culture and hands-on, engaged learning model—it’s honestly a rare and exciting opportunity. I truly feel like I can do things at Elon that I couldn’t do anywhere else.
Right now, I’m shifting gears quickly, wrapping up responsibilities at Carnegie Mellon and preparing for Fall semester at Elon. I’ve started a journal to document my first year as dean, including this summer, which I’m treating as the “preseason.” I hope the daily habit will encourage me to stay reflective in my decision-making, intentional with my time & energy, and mindful of the intellectual, emotional, and collaborative dimensions of this role. Maybe, eventually, those notes can evolve into something useful for other future first-time deans. A primer of sorts?
I’m also excited to be in North Carolina. A friend of mine is starting a similar journey at Wake Forest, just 50 minutes away from Elon. I’m looking forward to deepening my connections with colleagues like Greg Raschke at NC State, Michael Crumpton at UNC Greensboro, and María Estorino at Chapel Hill. North Carolina has a rich network of academic libraries, and I’m eager to learn and contribute to that ecosystem.
My years at Carnegie Mellon gave me the space to explore many facets of librarianship: archives & special collections, data management, digitization, researcher workflows, project management, scholarly communications, software development, digital strategy, digital libraries/archives, AI, and research information management systems (Symplectic Elements). I’m thankful for my time in Pittsburgh.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of learning from incredible teams at Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Tech, UC Santa Barbara, Georgia Tech, and GWU—each one shaping my leadership and personal growth in meaningful ways. I’m especially grateful to Keith Webster and Tyler Walters, at CMU and VT respectively, who modeled deanship for me over the past twelve years. A special thanks to Brenda Johnson, who hired me at Santa Barbara and set me on the path toward library administration. And to Crit Stuart, our time together at Georgia Tech left a lasting impression. His provocation and boldness, paired with a deep sense of care and design aesthetics, helped nurture an “alternative” take on librarianship that still resonates with me today.
I’m also grateful for the many colleagues, teams, and projects I’ve had the chance to collaborate with over the years. Librarianship has been a rich and surprising journey, and it continues to open new paths. You don’t just become a dean; it’s the result of so many layered experiences: chance encounters, generous mentors, mindset work, strategic work, operations work, and the influence of people and environments that expand your thinking and shape your values. It’s as much about who you grow alongside as it is about the roles or the titles that you hold.
And of course, I have to give a shout-out to my ARL Leadership Fellows cohort, a remarkable group of peers who continue to inspire me. Many of them saw more “dean-ness” in me than I saw in myself, and I’m deeply grateful for their insight, encouragement, and friendship.
Lastly, it means a great deal to have the chance to step into this role at Elon University. I’m committed to becoming the kind of leader I wrote about in Cambrian, someone who models engaged, compassionate leadership, and a future-forward vision for what libraries (and universities) can become. I’m especially drawn to the human side of leadership: creating a culture where people feel seen, supported, and energized to do their best work. Positive psychology suggests that when people experience purpose, connection, and a sense of belonging, they thrive—and so do the communities they serve, support, and collaborate with. That’s the kind of environment I hope to help further nurture at Elon.
