Ohio University has named Rob Ross dean of University Libraries, effective August 1, 2024.
Ross currently serves as the executive director for NC LIVE for the NC State University Libraries. In this position, he serves as the chief administrative officer for the 209-member library cooperative that provides electronic resources, library software, and professional development to all UNC System universities, private colleges, community colleges, and public libraries in North Carolina.
Ross has served as executive director for NC LIVE since 2015, with the primary mission of delivering the best possible content to all academic and public libraries in North Carolina as seamlessly as possible. In his work, he established a strategic organizational framework, conceived new services to meet the needs of North Carolina’s libraries, negotiated vendor agreements to create savings, launched a statewide open educational resources (OER) initiative that saved students $10 million in textbook costs over 24 months, established a professional development program, and transformed the way member libraries think of NC LIVE.
Before joining the NC State University Libraries, Ross served as the director of implementation programs for OCLC, Inc., in Dublin, Ohio; as interlibrary loan supervisor for Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts; and as library associate for the University of New Orleans.
In addition, Ross has served as an adjunct professor at The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, Bentley University, and MassBay Community College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Ross also was awarded a Fulbright Specialist Grant to support an academic library consortium in Rome, Italy.
Ross earned an MLIS degree from Kent State University, an MFA in creative writing from the University of New Orleans, and a BA in creative writing and philosophy from Ashland University.
Ross will succeed Janet Hulm, who has served as interim dean since August 15, 2023, after former dean Neil Romanosky left the university to lead the Michigan State University Libraries.
For more information, see the Ohio University news release, “Ohio University Names Rob Ross as Dean of University Libraries.”
