• library dean installation
    DEAN'S DAY: Joining Mary Ann Mavrinac (center) for the installation ceremony were the deanship's namesakes Andrew '47 and Janet Dayton Neilly (from left), Paul Burgett, University vice president (back row, left), Mary Ann Mavrinac's husband, Peter van Schie, her father, Joe Mavrinac, and University President Joel Seligman.
  • library dean installation
    HONOREE: Andrew Neilly '47, a life trustee of the University and former president, CEO, and vice chairman of the board of John Wiley & Sons, presented Mavrinac with a medallion as part of the ceremony.
  • library dean installation
    NAMESAKES: Janet Dayton Neilly and Andrew Neilly '47 established the position in 2000, one of the few endowed named directorships in the nation.
  • library dean installation
    LIBRARY LEADERSHIP: "It is our responsibility to support our students and faculty to succeed in a fast-paced, high-tech world. . . We must preserve our heritage collections, but also our born-digital materials, acquiring scholarly e-content to meet the needs of our students and faculty. And we must support teaching and learning, both residential and online."—Mary Ann Mavrinac


NEW DEAN: Internationally recognized library leader Mary Ann Mavrinac was formally installed as the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of Rivers Campus Libraries during a Dec. 3 ceremony.

"There has never been a better time to be in academic libraries," said Mary Ann Mavrinac, speaking at her investiture as the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester, held Monday, Dec. 3. "The pace of change is, quite frankly, riveting."

"In 1989, the World Wide Web was born. Nothing has been the same since," she told the gathering of University supporters, faculty, and staff. "No longer is information solely 'contained' in books, journals, and other established publication mediums which used to be the primary focus of academic libraries: to steward the outcomes of research. Format is not as important. Content is now unbundled."

Mavrinac is a recognized leader in the creation of inspiring learning spaces and the development of digital services. She brings to Rochester a decade of prior experience as chief librarian at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus, part of the University of Toronto Libraries. She also served as the 2010 president of the Ontario Library Association, Canada's largest library association.

At Toronto, Mavrinac spearheaded the construction of state-of-the-art library facilities that incorporate new technologies. A strategic thinker in the field of information science, she has written about new design concepts for libraries in articles like, "The Evolving Nature of Library as Place," and has been an invited speaker at "Designing 21st Century Libraries" conferences. To help undergraduates navigate the new world of scholarly databases and online research, she developed a credit course, now called "Foundations of Information Studies."

Mavrinac is the third recipient of the library deanship, which was established in 2000 through a gift from Life Trustee Andrew H. Neilly '47 and his wife, Janet Dayton Neilly. One of the few endowed named library directorships in the nation, the position was created to help the University attract outstanding talent. Ronald Dow, now retired, held the first Neilly deanship, followed by Susan Gibbons, who now leads the Yale University Library.