{"id":12941,"date":"2025-01-23T12:24:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=12941"},"modified":"2025-01-23T12:24:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T16:24:32","slug":"reception-held-to-celebrate-former-dean-beth-mcneil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/23\/reception-held-to-celebrate-former-dean-beth-mcneil\/","title":{"rendered":"Reception held to celebrate former Dean Beth McNeil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On January 14, a reception was held to celebrate former Dean Beth McNeil\u2019s professional accomplishments and honor the relationships she built, the lives and careers she touched, and the legacy she leaves behind as she enters the next phase of her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beth served as dean of Purdue Libraries for 5 \u00bd years. She first came to Purdue Libraries in 2007, serving as associate dean for information resources and scholarly communication, and became associate dean for academic affairs in 2009. She remained at Purdue for eight years, leaving in 2015 to become dean of library services and professor at Iowa State University. In 2019, Beth returned as dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies and Esther Ellis Norton Professor of Library Science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her tenure, Beth has led the Libraries to many accomplishments, including the launch of the 2022\u20132025 strategic plan, the formation of the new Information Studies minor, the expansion of Open Access opportunities for Purdue faculty and researchers, and the renovations of campus libraries. Her commitment to Purdue students will remain evident in library spaces that provide them with flexible study spaces, and the ongoing curriculum development to meet their academic needs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reception recap<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Puente, associate dean for organizational development, and Rebecca Richardson, associate dean for collections and access, began with opening remarks. Two of McNeil\u2019s former colleagues submitted their remarks to be read in place of their absences: Scott Brandt,<\/strong> Libraries professor emeritus, and Jim Mullins,<\/strong> dean of Libraries emeritus and Esther Ellis Norton professor emeritus. Five additional speakers followed to commemorate and speak of Beth\u2019s accomplishments, character, and friendship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Sunil Prabhakar,<\/strong> vice-provost for faculty affairs, interim leader of Libraries and School of Information Studies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Karen Plaut,<\/strong> executive vice president for research<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Joanne Troutner,<\/strong> current chair of the Dean\u2019s Advisory Council<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Donna Ferrullo,<\/strong> former director of the University Copyright Office, professor emerita\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jay Akridge,<\/strong> trustee chair in Teaching and Learning Excellence, professor of agricultural economics, served as provost from 2017\u20132022<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cShe\u2019s been an incredible advocate and mentor for faculty and staff. She encourages folks to take risks, embrace opportunities, and strive to be the best you can be while always keeping in mind that a work-life balance is important, too,\u201d said Ferullo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThere\u2019s a lot that\u2019s been said about her leadership, but to me, that\u2019s the most impressive, \u201csaid Akridge. \u201cShe led with intelligence, passion, grace, and good humor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Beth has consistently led with integrity, vision, and care for everyone around her. Under Beth\u2019s leadership, Libraries has experienced tremendous growth, innovation, and an enduring sense of belonging and purpose within the Purdue community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On January 14, a reception was held to celebrate former Dean Beth McNeil\u2019s professional accomplishments and honor the relationships she built, the lives and careers she touched, and the legacy she leaves behind as she enters the next phase of her career. Beth served as dean of Purdue Libraries for 5 \u00bd years. She first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":12944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13,13101],"tags":[13102],"class_list":["post-12941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-news-and-announcements","tag-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/files\/2025\/01\/IMG_0325-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1439&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pT6ms-3mJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12941"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12947,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12941\/revisions\/12947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}