If you'd like to meet with Dean McDonald, call Jennifer Cole at (303) 408-2573 to schedule an appointment.
Robert H. McDonald is Dean of University Libraries, Senior Vice Provost of Online and Extended Education, and Professor. He also holds an appointment as a Fellow with the CU Boulder Institute of Cognitive Science.
Dean McDonald leads the Boulder campus library system in fulfilling their mission to inspire learning, research and discovery by connecting knowledge, information and people. As Senior Vice Provost of Online and Extended Education, Robert serves in an executive role working with all colleges and schools to develop and launch online credential programs designed to extend the University of Colorado's academic excellence through CU Boulder Online.
Throughout his career, Robert has been an active proponent of diversity initiatives in libraries and is committed to creating library spaces that are welcoming, diverse and inclusive for all library users. In recent years, his research has been centered on digital libraries and large-scale humanities cyberinfrastructure, encompassing large data analysis, storage, and preservation through grant-funded and collaborative projects such as the HathiTrust Research Center. Additional research interests include integration of learning eco-systems, lean and agile frameworks in technology management, data preservation, data cyberinfrastructure and big data analytics.
He is active professionally with a number of national and international organizations and conferences, including service on the Association of Research Libraries Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, the HathiTrust Board of Governors and as general co-chair for the ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries in 2013 and 2017.
Prior to joining the CU Boulder Libraries in 2018, Robert held positions at Indiana University Bloomington, the San Diego Supercomputer Center, Florida State University, and Auburn University. He earned his Master of Library & Information Science degree at the University of South Carolina, and holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Georgia.