Simon Neame was named the new dean of University Libraries on June 7, 2021 and began his appointment September 1, 2021. As dean, he leads a network of 16 academic research libraries across all three University of Washington campuses and the University of Washington Press.
Simon Neame brings a wealth of experience in digitization, open access, and preservation of special collections. From 2016-2021, he served as the dean of Libraries at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he led the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, the Science and Engineering Library and the Wadsworth Library on the Mount Ida campus. Prior to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he was the associate university librarian and director of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus where he was responsible for the humanities and social sciences library, the health sciences library, and several subject libraries. In these leadership roles, he has demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, engaging communities, opening access to research, and building partnerships while underscoring the important role university libraries play in student success.
He has led a number of initiatives aimed at preserving Indigenous knowledge and amplifying the voices and stories of underrepresented communities through digitization programs, such as his work with the archives of civil rights activist and writer W.E.B. Du Bois. Simon’s own research explores the intersection between libraries and museums, and opportunities for integration across collections through open discovery systems.
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he holds a bachelor’s degree in English and history from the University of Victoria and a master of library and information studies from the University of British Columbia.
Previously, Denise worked at Auraria Library, administered by the University of Colorado (CU) Denver, which also serves the Metropolitan State University of Denver and the Community College of Denver. As the associate director of Technical Services for this unique tri-institutional academic library, Denise was responsible for the functional areas of acquisitions, access and discovery, library management system, collections assessment, special collections, and digital initiatives. Prior to CU Denver, Denise was the public services librarian at the Johnson & Wales University, Denver Campus Library. She began her career in librarianship serving lifelong learners at the Contra County Library in California and teaching elementary school students at Denver Public Schools in Colorado.
Denise contributes to librarianship through publications and presentations focused on defining and demonstrating the impact of library collections on research and teaching. More details on her research record are available at Google Scholaror ORCID ID. She also represents UW Libraries on committees for the ALA Collection Development and Technical Services Interest Groups, Center for Research Libraries, and HathiTrust.
Denise holds a B.A. in History and B.S. in Economics from the University of California, Riverside; M.A. in History from the University of Colorado Boulder; and M.L.I.S. from San Jose State University in California.
