Robert H. McDonald, dean of University Libraries and senior vice provost of Online and Extended Education at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, has been appointed as the new senior vice provost and director of the University of Texas at Austin Libraries. Robert will succeed retiring vice provost and director lorraine j. haricombe. His new appointment is effective August 16, 2025.
Robert has served as dean at CU Boulder since 2018, during which time he has overseen strategic initiatives in digital library services and online program development, including the expansion of alternative credentialing programs and learning technologies that support researchers and students across disciplines. He guided adoption of an open-source community-based Library Services Platform to secure sustainable and affordable software for CU Boulder’s Libraries.
Prior to his time at CU Boulder, Robert served in leadership roles at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington, where he helped build national infrastructure for digital preservation and cyberinfrastructure initiatives, including work with the HathiTrust Research Center and the IU Data to Insight Center. He also held positions at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego, Florida State University, and Auburn University. He holds a master of library and information science from the University of South Carolina and a master of music from the University of Georgia.
Robert has served on the boards of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Association of College & Research Libraries, HathiTrust, and the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. He has served on numerous ARL committees and working groups, including the Membership Committee (2024–26), Membership Task Force (2023–24), Membership Model and Financial Framework Task Force (2022–23), Finance Committee (2020–23), and Governance Committee (2020–23).
