FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Giuliana Bullard, 202-653-4799
gbullard@imls.gov
National Museum and Library Services Board Gains Five New and One Returning Member
Washington, DC – Six individuals, who were appointed by President Barack Obama in late November, were sworn in as members of the National Museum and Library Services Board yesterday. They will join other board members for today’s biannual board meeting at the office of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in Washington, DC.
The board is the advisory body for IMLS, and members are selected to serve based on their expertise and commitment to libraries or museums.
IMLS Director Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew said, “It is very exciting to welcome our new colleagues to the National Museum and Library Services Board. I’m sure their wealth of experience, judgement and knowledge of the museum and library fields will prove extremely valuable. We look forward to their strategic guidance.”
The newly sworn in board members are the following.
Sayeed Choudhury is associate dean for research data management and the Hodson director of the digital research and curation center at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University, positions held since 2011 and 1997 respectively. Choudhury served as senior presidential fellow at the Council on Library and Information Resources and was a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. He is a member of the Board of the National Information Standards Organization and the Advisory Board for OpenAIRE2020. Choudhury has been a member of the National Academies Board on Research Data and Information, Digital Library Federation Advisory Committee, and the Library of Congress's National Digital Stewardship Alliance Coordinating Committee. Choudhury received a B.S. and M.S. from Johns Hopkins University.
Luis Herrera is city librarian for the San Francisco Public Library. Herrera worked as director of information services for Pasadena, deputy director of library services for San Diego, and associate director of library services for Long Beach. He is a founding board member of the Digital Public Library of America. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Latino Community Foundation and previously served as chair of the California Council for the Humanities. Herrera was named the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year in 2012. He was first appointed to the National Museum and Library Services Board in 2012. Herrera received a B.S. from the University of Texas at El Paso, an M.L.S. from the University of Arizona, and an M.P.A. from California State University, Long Beach.
Homa Naficy is chief adult learning officer at Hartford Public Library. She founded and is director of The American Place, a program designed for Hartford’s immigrant and refugee community. Her previous positions include library consultant at the Hebrew Home for the Aged, adult and outreach services librarian in the Westchester Library System and reference librarian at several libraries, including the White Plains Public Library, Yonkers Public Library, Newark Public Library, and New Rochelle Public Library. She was named a White House Champion of Change in 2013 and was awarded the Connecticut Immigrant of the Year Award in 2001. Naficy received a B.A. from American University of Paris and an M.L.S. from Rutgers University.
Dr. Tey Marianna Nunn is director and chief curator of the Art Museum and Visual Arts Program at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Dr. Nunn was curator for contemporary Hispano and Latino collections at the Museum of International Folk Art. She is a trustee on the Board of El Rancho de las Golondrinas and was a member of the boards of trustees for the American Alliance of Museums and the Western States Arts Federation. Dr. Nunn received a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Reno, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.
Jane Pickering is executive director of the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. Pickering worked at Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History as deputy director and as assistant director for public programs. She was director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum, senior curator at the museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and assistant curator of zoological collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Pickering received an M.A. from the University of Cambridge and an M.Sc. from the University of Leicester.
Beth Takekawa is executive director of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience (The Wing). Takekawa served as The Wing’s chief executive officer in 2007 and was associate director from 1997 to 2006. She was appointed by the Governor of Washington to serve as a commissioner on the Washington State Arts Commission from 2009 to 2015, and serves on the board of the Downtown Seattle Association and International District Emergency Center. She is a 2011 Salzburg Global Seminars fellow and was a member on the National Planning Committee for the Minidoka National Historic Site. Takekawa attended the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities and received a B.A. from Hunter College of the City University of New York.
The newly appointed board members replace Bert Castro, John Coppola, Winston Tabb, Carla Hayden and Susana Torruella Leval, whose terms have expired. Luis Herrera’s appointment was renewed.
See the IMLS website for more information about the National Museum and Library Services Board.
About the National Museum and Library Services Board
The National Museum and Library Services Board is an advisory body that includes the director and deputy directors of Institute of Museum and Library Service and 20 presidentially appointed members of the general public who have demonstrated expertise in, or commitment to, library or museum services. Informed by its collectively vast experience and knowledge, the board advises the IMLS director on general policy and practices, and on selections for the National Medals for Museum and Library Service.