Mimi Calter, deputy university librarian at Stanford University, has been appointed vice provost and university librarian at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Provost Beverly Wendland. Calter will join the university in the fall; she succeeds Denise Stephens, who departed this spring to serve as dean of libraries at the University of Oklahoma.
“I’m pleased to welcome Mimi as our new vice provost and university librarian,” Wendland said. “She is a creative, strategic thinker who has done much to enhance research, teaching and learning for both faculty and students at Stanford. A library holds many different functions at a university, and it’s essential that the library meets the needs of all members of our community, from professors researching in the humanities to students working on data analysis. I look forward to working with Mimi to ensure that the library helps our faculty and students to achieve their scholarly goals.”
Calter will oversee Washington University Libraries, a system of 10 campus facilities and its 140-person staff of expert librarians, curators and archivists. She is charged with strengthening print and digital collections, developing programming in support of research, teaching and learning, and collaborating with scholars on and off campus.
“I’m very excited to be joining the Washington University Libraries and to continue to build the libraries’ tools for the support of teaching, research and learning,” Calter said. “From Special Collections to Digital Library Program Services and Data Services, the libraries are clearly a key partner for faculty and students. As the university engages in strategic planning, I look forward to growing and deepening that relationship.”
Calter has served Stanford Libraries for 16 years. In her current role, she has helped develop the libraries’ $84 million budget, lead its 400-person staff, expand digital technologies and repositories and manage capital projects, including relocation of the second-largest campus library and development of the David Rumsey Map Center.
Calter earned her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and graduate degrees in business administration and library and information science from Drexel University.
Calter was selected by the 12-member search committee, chaired by Douglas Dowd, professor of art at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and of American culture studies in Arts & Sciences, and faculty director of the D.B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library.
“The committee saw her as a great fit for this moment as an advocate, thinker and leader,” Dowd said. “Above all, we were looking for someone to lead University Libraries in partnership with the WashU research enterprise, in addition to its traditional role in support of teaching and learning. We’re confident that Mimi Calter will take the libraries to a new level. We are thrilled to welcome her to campus.”
