{"id":755,"date":"2026-06-25T15:41:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/?page_id=755"},"modified":"2026-07-09T17:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:54:14","slug":"endowed-appointments","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/about\/faculty-staff\/endowed-appointments\/","title":{"rendered":"Endowed Appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_6295aec9816975a0fe45015bb7d820aa\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tAllen and Elaine Avner Endowed Professorship in Interdisciplinary Research Funds\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Heidi Imker, Head of Research Data Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The professorship, a position through which meta-research will help identify ways that a major research library can best assist such work\u2014either through existing resources or by providing new directions, was established with a gift from longtime Library Friend Allen Avner in November 2017.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_2cf2863c337687030ae2e9576d8f5a01\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tRalph Fisher Library Scholar in Slavic, East European and Eurasian Collections and Services\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Ellen Swain,&nbsp;&nbsp;Archivist for Student Life and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Illinois alumnus Stewart S. Howe provided the impetus for the development of the Student Life and Culture Archival Program at the University of Illinois Archives. Howe was founder of the Stewart S. Howe Alumni Service, which provided management, public relations, and fund-raising assistance to fraternities, sororities, and institutions of higher education. He had a life-long interest in higher education and was a dedicated collector of material dealing with fraternal organizations and other areas of college life.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_66b9f1cddb0fb9d7f65082229cb929f2\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tStewart S. Howe Archivist of Student Life and Culture as an Endowed Professor\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Ellen Swain,&nbsp;&nbsp;Archivist for Student Life and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Illinois alumnus Stewart S. Howe provided the impetus for the development of the Student Life and Culture Archival Program at the University of Illinois Archives. Howe was founder of the Stewart S. Howe Alumni Service, which provided management, public relations, and fund-raising assistance to fraternities, sororities, and institutions of higher education. He had a life-long interest in higher education and was a dedicated collector of material dealing with fraternal organizations and other areas of college life.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_03263a3d909bc87565d2c34a12fe0fc0\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tAndrew W. Mellon Endowed Senior Conservator\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Quinn Morgan Ferris, Senior Conservator for Special Collections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_d745602cac668c8200f85235fdffe161\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tAndrew W. Mellon Endowed Conservator\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Jody S. Waitzman, Conservator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_9991e1728b5ee57acfd1552a2d0b8a8b\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tC. Walter Mortenson and Gerda B Mortenson Distinguished Professorship for International Library Programs\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Clara Chu, Director, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>C. Walter and Gerda B. Mortenson envisioned a program for the promotion of international education, understanding, and peace through library programs. Their gift created the Mortenson Distinguished Professorship for International Library Programs at Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_05c6a50d3dc52bf17ea3c48aa5474376\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tJuanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book and Manuscript Library Professorship\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Lynne Thomas, Head, Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob and Juanita Simpson supported the University Library for more than 20 years and shared Library Dean Paula Kaufman\u2019s passion and &nbsp;vision for the University Library. Their gifts for this deanship, as well as for the Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library Chair, have provided invaluable funding for Library programs and projects.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_99e1e2ecf5ffb3dcd8e2094facc33087\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tJuanita J. and Robert E. Simpson University Library Deanship\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Claire Stewart, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bob and Juanita Simpson supported the University Library for more than 20 years and shared Library Dean Paula Kaufman\u2019s passion and vision for the University Library. Their gifts for this deanship, as well as for the Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library Chair, have provided invaluable funding for Library programs and projects.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_be7bb6b5ce6b9254510977c0458e212f\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tAndrew S. G. Turyn Professor\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Myung-Ja Han, Metadata Librarian<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Andrew S. G. Turyn Endowed Professorship was established through a significant gift from the estate of former librarian, alumnus, and longtime Library Friend Andrew Turyn. Offered on a five-year rotating basis, it is open to full professors of library administration who are pursuing innovative research in any scholarly area, including library and information science, the humanities, the sciences, the social sciences, the arts, and other fields.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<div id=\"uofi-accordion-block_dc5f5a4a08fc7dae2a3ce0c33e87503e\" class=\"uofi uofi-accordion il-formatted\">\r\n\t<div >\r\n\t    <details >\r\n\t\t\t<summary>\r\n\t\t\t\tJohn \u2018Bud\u2019 Velde Endowed Professorship\t\t\t<\/summary>\r\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<p><strong>Current Appointee: Jennifer Hain Teper, Head of Preservation Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A longtime Library Friend, Mr. Velde was involved in the support and direction of libraries at local and national levels for many years. In addition his monetary gifts, Mr. Velde and his wife Gretchen Swanson Velde donated the University Library\u2019s 7- and 8-millionth volumes, as well as a one-of-a-kind set of works by Charles Dickens.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\t\t<\/details>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":100,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-755","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/755\/revisions\/952"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-pilot.library.illinois.edu\/libinfo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}