University of Southern California (USC) has named Melissa Just dean of libraries, effective November 27, 2023. Just will hold the Valerie and Ronald Sugar Dean’s Chair of the USC Libraries.
Just is currently library dean at the University of Saskatchewan, where she has overseen the strategic, fiscal, and operational success of a library system serving 26,000 students and 1,000 faculty across 17 colleges, schools, and professional programs since 2017.
Just said her greatest achievement at the University of Saskatchewan was “develop[ing] the relationship between the library and different aspects of the university—including the colleges and the schools—but also other offices on campus that help the university achieve its research, teaching, learning and clinical goals,” something she hopes to accomplish in her new role at USC.
Previously, Just was assistant vice president for Information Services and director of New Brunswick Libraries at Rutgers University. Early in her career she worked for USC’s Norris Medical Library, advancing to associate director, Outreach & Resource Management.
In the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Just currently serves on the ARL Board of Directors as well as the Audit and Governance Committees. She was a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in 2018–2020, the Nominating Committee in 2019, and the Libraries That Learn Design Team in 2015–2016. Just was an ARL Leadership Fellow in the 2013–2015 cohort and an ARL visiting program officer for Libraries That Learn in 2015–2016.
Just earned an EdD from USC, an MLIS from The University of Texas at Austin, and a BA in psychobiology from University of California, Riverside.
At USC, Just will succeed Catherine Quinlan, who stepped down from USC Libraries in August 2022 after serving as dean for 15 years. Marje Schuetze-Coburn has been serving as interim dean since May 2023 and Andrew Guzman served as interim dean from August 2022 through April 2023.
For more information about Just and her appointment, see the USC news release “USC Appoints Alumna Melissa Just as New Dean of Libraries.”
