Jeffry Archer Appointed Dean of University Libraries at Baylor

Archer brings extensive academic library experience to Baylor Libraries from McGill University, University of Chicago

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WACO, Texas (Jan. 6, 2020) – Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced today that Jeffry Archer, Associate Dean of User Services at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, will join Baylor University as Dean of University Libraries, effective June 1, 2020.

“As Baylor University moves forward on its aspirations to become a Research 1/Tier 1 university, we are pleased that Jeffry Archer will bring his extensive academic library experience at McGill University and the University of Chicago – two prestigious institutions – to Baylor and continue the tradition of support, preservation and innovation that has characterized our University Libraries for decades,” Brickhouse said. “I express my sincerest appreciation to John S. Wilson for his exceptional leadership as Interim Dean and to the Dean of Libraries Search Committee, chaired by College of Arts & Sciences Dean Lee Nordt, for their valuable time and service to the University during this far-reaching search process.”

Archer joined the McGill University Library and Archives in January 2017, where he has provided leadership for user experience, customer service, marketing, reference and instruction in the Library’s physical and virtual spaces. He also leads the planning, coordinating and developing of services delivered through McGill’s eight branch libraries.

Before joining McGill, Archer served for more than two decades with the University of Chicago Library. He started at UChicago in 1995 as bibliographer for business and economics and then became head of Reference Instruction and Outreach (RIO) in 2003, administering the services of the RIO and providing leadership in reference services for the Humanities and Social Sciences Division. He continued to serve as subject bibliographer for business and economics with responsibility for developing and strengthening the Library’s collections in all relevant formats and providing specialized reference and bibliographic services to support teaching and research in those disciplines. Archer also led the Library’s efforts in disability accommodations and accessible technologies. Throughout his time at UChicago, he provided instructional sessions and seminars for students in library research.

In addition, Archer’s academic career included serving as a graduate assistant from 1989 to 1992 at the University of Illinois Libraries in the Ricker Library of Architecture and Art and as a senior assistant librarian and bibliographer for business, economics and geography from 1992 to 1995 at State University of New York at Albany Library. He also completed the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in summer 2019.

As dean, Archer will lead the Baylor University Libraries, an innovative research library that undergirds scholarship, fosters teaching and learning and builds communities. Comprised of the Central Libraries and world-renowned special collections that include the Armstrong Browning Library, The Texas Collection and University Archives, The Institute for Oral History, the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, and the W. R. Poage Legislative Library, the Libraries drive research at Baylor University and beyond.

Archer earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1990 and his Master of Library and Information Science in 1991, both from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. While at Illinois, he was a cadet in the U.S. Army ROTC and also attended the U.S. Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia. From 1989 to 1992, he served with the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry, of the Illinois Army National Guard, and from 1993 to 1995, he served in the U.S. Army Reserve with the 1018 Quartermaster Company and 1018th Supply and Service Company in Schenectady, New York.

He is a member of the American Library Association, Association of College and Research Libraries and Associate University Librarians, Canada. He has served on national committees, as well as multiple university library committees, and has given numerous presentations representing each institution at national and international meetings.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.