Lynn Scott "Scottie" Cochrane, currently dean for library and learning services at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., will become Denison University's director of libraries next academic year (August 2000).

An honors graduate of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (1969), Cochrane earned a master of science degree in library science from the Catholic University of America (1980) and a doctorate (1998) in public administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va.

For the past eight years she has headed the Marymount University Reinsch Library in Arlington, Va., responsible for a $2.5-million annual budget and oversight also of its Learning Resource Center and Media Center. She supervises 25 full-time faculty and staff, 25 part-time employees and some 100 part-time student assistants at Marymount's three campuses in northern Virginia. (Denison's library and learning resource center operate on about a $1.9 million budget and employ 20 full-time and 9 part-time librarians and staff members and some 75 students.)

Her 28-year career in research libraries includes service at Virginia Tech as a user services manager, Virginia Commonwealth University as interlibrary loan librarian and assistant librarian, and a semester as a librarian trainee at the Executive Office of the President and White House Information Center.

In addition, she has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay as a reading specialist and para-professional librarian while a graduate assistant. Earlier in her career, Cochrane was a secondary school teacher in Dillon, S.C., and, later, spent three years at Penn State University's Pattee Library as a para-professional librarian.

"We are delighted with the selection of Scottie Cochrane as Denison's new director of libraries," said Provost David R. Anderson, who also congratulated Search Committee Chair Amy Gordon, professor of history, for leading the national search for a replacement for David Pilachowski. (Pilachowski is now head of libraries at Williams College in Massachusetts.)

Working with Gordon on the search committee were: Ken Bork, geology; Ted Burczak, economics, Joy Sperling, art; Joe Fleming, computing services; and Bev Herring, Mary Prophet and Carol Vasenko, all of the library.

"We're looking forward to her arrival on campus this summer to lead a dedicated library staff in enhancing the teaching and learning environment at Denison, particularly in continuing the improvements in technology-based services for students, faculty and staff," Anderson said. "Meanwhile, we are especially thankful for the staff's professional work and the leadership of acting director Mary Prophet during this search period."

At Marymount, Cochrane helped enhance the library's instruction program in order to help users navigate an increasingly complex maze of resources and by involving the faculty in creating multi-media resources in support of the university's curriculum.

In addition to a user-centered, team approach to such improvements, Cochrane also has been active in networking and coalition-building at Marymount. She is active in both the American Library Association and its governing council and has served as president of the Virginia Library Association. Currently Cochrane serves as chair of the CAPCON, the Capitol-area library network in Washington, D.C. She also has been active in American Society for Public Administration, the Rotary Club of Montgomery County (Virginia) and two honoraries: the Pi Alpha Alpha public administration honorary and Beta Phi Mu library science honorary.

At Denison, the new libraries director will be leading the University's participation in several consortia, including OhioLINK and the Five Colleges of Ohio (College of Wooster, Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan). Cochrane can also expect to be significantly involved as Denison continues to expand its technology initiative in which the library has a vital role. The new director also will serve on the University's Information Resources Advisory Board and will work closely with the Computing Services department to provide information resources to the campus community.

Cochrane and her husband, Louis I. Middleman, will be moving toin June. He is a senior research associate with WPI, Inc., an environmental public policy consulting organization associated with Virginia Tech, where he formerly taught English for 17 years. They are the parents of a son, William James "Bleu" McAuley III, 24, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he works as a singer-songwriter.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575