Emory University has appointed Valeda F. Dent, PhD, as the inaugural vice provost of libraries and museum, effective in July 2022.
Dent is currently acting provost and vice president for academic affairs as well as vice president for student success and learning innovation at Hunter College of the City University of New York.
At Hunter College, Dent is co-chair of the Presidential Task Force for the Advancement of Racial Equity. Important to her work at Emory, Dent believes strongly in the role of the library and museum in civic outreach and has a deep understanding of libraries and museums as centers of community empowerment and civic responsibility. Dent has a record of scholarly achievement in the areas of chronic poverty and literacy, rural African libraries, and literacy culture development, and she is a Fulbright Scholar.
Prior to her appointments at Hunter College, Dent served as dean and university librarian at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, and dean and chief operating officer for the libraries at Long Island University. She holds a PhD in information science from Long Island University, an MSW and an MILS from the University of Michigan, and a BA in film studies from Hunter College.
At Emory, Dent will succeed Yolanda Cooper, who took the position of vice provost and Lindseth Family University Librarian at Case Western Reserve University, beginning January 1, 2022. Lisa Macklin has been serving as interim dean and university librarian at Emory since November 15, 2021.
For more information about Dent and her appointment, see the Emory University news release, “Valeda F. Dent to Serve as Emory’s Inaugural Vice Provost of Libraries and Museum.”
