Jim Neal

Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University

Jim Neal is currently the vice president for information services and university librarian at Columbia University, providing leadership for university academic computing and a system of twenty-five libraries. His responsibilities include the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL), the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship, the Copyright Advisory Office, and the Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research. Previously, he served as the dean of university libraries at Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University, and held administrative positions in the libraries at Penn State, Notre Dame, and the City University of New York.

Neal has served on numerous boards including: the council and executive board of the American Library Association where he is currently chair of the Budget Advisory and Review Committee (BARC); the Association of Research Libraries, including as president; and the Research Libraries Group (RLG). He is currently on boards of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Neal is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, consultant and published author, with a focus in the areas of scholarly communication, intellectual property, digital library programs, organizational change and human resource development. He is currently on the board of the Columbia University Press. He has represented the American library community in testimony on copyright matters before  ongressional committees, was an advisor to the U.S. delegation at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) diplomatic conference on copyright, and during 2005-08 was a member of the U.S. Copyright Office Section 108 Study Group. He was selected the 1997 Academic Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries and is the 2007 recipient of ALA’s Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award.