Pat Burns Named Dean of Libraries at Colorado State University

Note to Reporters: A photo of Pat Burns is available with the news release at http://www.news.colostate.edu/ or www.flickr.com/coloradostateuniversity.

Pat Burns, vice president for Information Technology at Colorado State University, has also been named dean of Libraries – a position he has held as interim since May 2008.

Burns, who joined Colorado State University as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in 1978, will retain his responsibilities as vice president. He became a full professor and stayed in the department until 1998 when he was appointed director of Academic Computing and Networking Services at the university. He obtained his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley.

In 2008, then-Provost Tony Frank, now president of Colorado State, appointed Burns to the position of interim dean of Libraries with the resignation of Catherine Murray-Rust.

At the time, Frank said that the university should take the opportunity to review its library system, the pressures facing libraries nationally and the interface between libraries and information technology.

Burns reports to Rick Miranda, provost and executive vice president.

“Under Pat’s leadership, the library has taken a number of significant steps in enhancing the relationship between the Libaries and Information Technology here at CSU,” Miranda said. “As Tony has said, we must carefully and thoughtfully evaluate these units to determine the best approach to meet both our current needs and those of the faculty – including the Library faculty – and students who will follow us at Colorado State. Pat is the right person at the right time to continue to lead these important efforts.”

The changes in 2008 also included the formation of a library IT committee to evaluate the library. Peter Dorhout, provost for Graduate Affairs and chair of the Library 2020 Task Force, chaired the committee, which made a number of recommendations that Burns has begun to implement.
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