KINGSTON, R.I. — June 29, 2015 — An International pioneer in library/information science and digital library development, Karim B. Boughida of Washington, D.C., has been appointed dean of University Libraries at The University of Rhode Island. Donald H. DeHayes, URI provost and vice president for Academic Affairs made the appointment following a national search.

Currently the associate university librarian for digital initiatives and content management at George Washington University, Boughida will begin his new role on August 11. He will relieve Professor Cheryl Ann McCarthy of Portsmouth, R.I., who has served as interim dean during the past year.

“Karim Boughida has been commended by his colleagues at George Washington University and he received strong support for his candidacy from University community members,” said DeHayes. “Based on his decades of experience at top institutions in North America and North Africa, he will bring a fresh, global perspective to one of the most critical, physical and virtual resources for research and teaching in the 21st century — the university libraries. His leadership will benefit the University and support our relationships with other libraries statewide.

In my view, we could not have done better in selecting a Dean with substantial experience, leadership, and a strong reputation as a collaborator, team builder, and leader in digital projects and initiatives. I thank the search committee, led by College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Patricia J. Morokoff, for its thoughtful leadership and effectiveness throughout the search process,” said DeHayes.

Fluent in Arabic, French and English, Boughida is a frequent public speaker on library, information technology and data issues, and has spoken at the Digital Library Federation, the Museum Computer Network and the Coalition for Networked Information. He was one of five experts invited to discuss the International Bibliographic Framework Transition Initiative (Bibframe) at the U.S. Library of Congress and was recently named to the editorial board of the prestigious International Journal on Digital Libraries and the VIVO-DuraSpace leadership group that is focused on the discovery and linkage of researchers across institutions worldwide.

“I am pleased, honored and humbled to be joining a dedicated and talented library faculty and staff. I look forward to engaging with the URI community (and beyond) to build leading services, spaces and collections to support the University’s strategic directions. I think the future of the University libraries is bright,” said Boughida. “URI is the quintessential land and sea grant research university that embodies the ideals of a public university particularly inclusiveness, accessibility and social responsibility. I am impressed by how the university embraces these principles.

“Despite the tough challenges facing higher education nowadays, I believe that, together we can build a better world for the next generation,” he said.

Boughida has served at George Washington University since 2008 where he is responsible for overall leadership, strategy development and technology expertise. He has developed innovative policies and implemented changes in digital planning and services within the library system and the Washington Research Library Consortium. He led the reorganization of traditional library processing services into technology savvy units by implementing R&D, open source and continuous training. He also secured many grants through a variety of federal funding sources.

Before joining GWU, Dean Boughida was senior information systems architect at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, Calif., which is an international research leader in arts, education, and humanities. At the Getty Research Institute for seven years, he managed national digital library development projects, including the examination of digital preservation systems. Earlier in his career, he managed digital library products at Endeavor Information Systems in Chicago, and held senior information management and archives positions in Canada and in his native country of Algeria.

Dean Boughida has participated in the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians at Harvard University. He holds a masters degree in library and information science from the Universite de Montreal, Canada and an undergraduate degree in library science from the University of Constantine, Algeria.

He will be joined in Rhode Island by his wife, Jamila Allouane, who is a psychotherapist, and their 11-year-old son Aksil.