June 10, 2019

Dear UO Libraries Faculty and Staff,

I am writing to let you know that I have named Mark Watson as interim dean of Libraries. He will take over for Adriene Lim, who announced late last month that her last day at UO is July 8.

Mark is currently the Libraries’ associate dean for research services. Before that, he served as interim head of UO Science Libraries, overseeing the operations of the Allan Price Science Commons and Research Library, and as co-interim dean of Libraries before Adriene’s arrival in 2014.

He started at UO in 1986 as a catalog librarian. In 1998, he became associate librarian for Technical Services, providing leadership for acquisitions, cataloging, inter-library loans and library systems. He was associate university librarian for collections and access from 2002 to 2013, coordinating activities across six areas and supervising 80 staff members. Mark assumed the title of associate dean of libraries for research services in 2014.

Mark has a long history at UO, and he is very knowledgeable about our library system and what is needed to keep things moving forward. He has been actively involved in campus activities, including serving as a member of several search committees across campus. He has volunteered his time as a panel judge for the Graduate School’s research forum, and he has been a UO representative for the Orbis Cascade Alliance’s shared content team.

I am confident that Mark will be a terrific interim dean. He brings a level of experience and understanding to the position that will help us continue moving our libraries forward.

Mark will start in his interim role on July 9 and will serve until a new permanent head of libraries is named; the search for that position will be done under the leadership of the new provost and will commence this fall. 

Please join me in congratulating Mark on his new assignment. Thank you for all that you do to help our students, faculty, and staff at the UO.

Sincerely,

Jayanth Banavar
Provost and Senior Vice President