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About OCLC : OCLC Leadership Team : Executive Search

The Search for the new OCLC President and CEO

Executive Search Committee and Community Advisory Group report significant progress, set timeline for selecting OCLC President and CEO

The Executive Search Committee of the OCLC Board of Trustees and OCLC's Community Advisory Group have made significant progress and established a general timeline in the process to select the next President and CEO of the OCLC cooperative.

"The Search Committee has been very pleased that this opportunity has attracted a number of impressive candidates from a variety of backgrounds," said Sandy Yee, Chair of the Executive Search Committee, and Dean of the Wayne State University Libraries and Library and Information Science Program. "Many of the candidates have been nominations from member libraries, the Community Advisory Group, OCLC staff and the Board itself."

According to Ms. Yee, in-person interviews of candidates by members of the Search Committee will begin in February, followed by a second round of interviews by March.

Learn more

The OCLC Board of Trustees announced formation of an Executive Search Committee on August 1, 2011. This Committee is leading the process to select the next President and Chief Executive Officer of OCLC to succeed Jay Jordan, who has announced his plans to retire June 30, 2012.

Members of the Executive Search Committee are:

  • Chair, Sandy Yee, Dean of the Wayne State University Libraries and Library and Information Science Program
  • Ed Barry, President Emeritus, Oxford University Press
  • Maggie Farrell, Dean of Libraries, University of Wyoming
  • Bernadette Gray-Little, Chancellor, University of Kansas
  • Kathleen Imhoff, Library Consultant
  • David Lauer, Former President and COO, Bank One, NA
  • James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University
  • Elisabeth Niggemann, Director General, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The OCLC Board has hired the executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles to assist in the international search.

Community Advisory Group

The Executive Search Committee of the OCLC Board of Trustees has named 13 people to a Community Advisory Group that will also be involved in the search.

Members of the Community Advisory Group will provide the Executive Search Committee with counsel regarding the selection of a new President and CEO, including input to the position profile, names for consideration, potential sources of candidates, and stakeholder perspectives. The Group will also be engaged in the final stage of the interview process.

The Community Advisory Group includes librarians from OCLC member institutions, staff and other library leaders. The 13 appointees are:

  • Pam Bailey, Member Advocate, OCLC
  • ChewLeng Beh, Vice President/President-Elect, OCLC Global Council, and Senior Director Library and Professional Services and Director of SILAS, National Library Board, Singapore
  • Paul Cappuzzello, Senior Library Services Consultant, OCLC
  • William Crowe, Former Member of the OCLC Board of Trustees and Librarian Emeritus, University of Kansas, USA
  • Carol Diedrichs, Director of Libraries, The Ohio State University, USA
  • Berndt Dugall, OCLC Global Council President? and Direktor/Librarian, Universit?t Frankfurt, Universit?tsbibliothek Johann Senckenberg, Germany
  • Chrystie Hill, Director, WebJunction Community Services, OCLC
  • Patrick Losinski, Executive Director, Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library, USA
  • Constance Malpas, Program Officer, OCLC Research
  • Andrew Pace, Executive Director, Networked Library Services, OCLC
  • Anja Smit, Regional Representative, OCLC Global Council, and University Librarian
    Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • John Ulmschneider, University Librarian, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
  • Norbert Weinberger, Managing Director, Germany, OCLC

On June 27, 2011, Jay Jordan announced his plans to retire as OCLC's fourth president and CEO on June 30, 2012; by then he will have served 14 years in that position, the longest tenure of any OCLC president.

We encourage your recommendations

If you would like to recommend a candidate for this position or have input to position requirements, please e-mail the executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles directly.

Heidrick & Struggles is a global executive search firm with more than 375 consultants and 75 locations worldwide. Bonnie W. Gwin, vice chairman and managing partner, North America Board of Directors Practice, is leading the OCLC search.