CHICAGO (June 28, 2005) - The Newberry Library, Chicago's world-renowned independent research library that is free and open to the public, today announced the appointment of David Spadafora, Ph.D., as the new President and Librarian effective Oct. 1.
A resident of Lake Forest, Spadafora is an accomplished historian and former Newberry Fellow. He will succeed Charles T. Cullen, who earlier this year announced his retirement after 19 years of service.
"We are delighted that Mr. Spadafora, who is an accomplished scholar and successful administrator, will lead the Newberry Library in our goal to enhance the Library's scholarly efforts. We believe he will continue the great progress already made because he brings a deep, personal appreciation for the Newberry," said Andrew W. McGhee, Newberry Library board chairman, who helped conduct the national search. "The Newberry Library is a cultural gem in the world, and Mr. Spadafora is poised to maintain this legacy for scholars as well as for the public."
Spadafora, 54, has taught History at Lake Forest College for the past 15 years. During his tenure, he served as dean of faculty from 1990 to 1993 and president of the college from 1993 to 2001. In the fall of 2001, he received a prestigious one-year teaching and research fellowship at the Newberry Library from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM).
During that time, Spadafora directed the ACM Newberry humanities seminar, which involved instructing visiting students from ACM colleges.
An accomplished historian who earned his doctorate in History from Yale University, Spadafora received special recognition for one of his works, The Idea of Progress in Eighteenth-Century Britain, when it was included in the Outstanding Academic Books List by Choice, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Spadafora said he is excited to continue the critical work of the Newberry Library, which serves an important role in both the global and local community.
"Among the world's great research libraries, the Newberry has long had a unique mission. It serves professional scholars who publish books and articles, but it is also free and open to the public and plays an important educational role in the community. It was a privilege for me to pursue my own scholarship at the Newberry. Now I look forward with great pleasure to helping extend the recent achievements of one of Chicago's great cultural treasures, and to supporting its further advance as a 21st century institution," said Spadafora. He and his wife, Carolyn, have two children.
The Newberry Library is an independent library open to the public for research and reference in the humanities. One of the largest independent research libraries in the United States, the Newberry houses an extraordinary collection of more than 1.5 million books, 5 million manuscript pages and 300 thousand historic maps. As one of the world's leading repositories of a broad range of books and manuscripts relating to the civilizations of western Europe and the Americas, the Library's mission is to acquire and preserve research collections of such materials, and to provide for and promote their effective use by a diverse community of users.