Elizabeth (Liz) Lorang, professor and interim dean for the University Libraries, has been named permanent dean after a national search. The announcement was made Nov. 30 by Executive Vice Chancellor Katherine Ankerson.
Lorang has served in the interim role since May 2 and will formally begin the appointment, which is pending University of Nebraska Board of Regents approval, on Dec. 1.
“Liz is a collaborative, thoughtful, and inclusive leader with a deep passion for the academic and research missions of our Libraries,” Ankerson said. “She has a strong vision for the University Libraries’ next chapter — one of innovation and impact across the campus, the university system, state of Nebraska, and among our peers and partnering institutions.”
Lorang began her University of Nebraska–Lincoln career as research assistant professor in the Department of English and Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. In 2013, she began her decade of time with the University Libraries, first as digital humanities projects librarian in 2016 and then associate dean of research and learning in 2018. She has completed the Association of Research Libraries’ Leadership Fellows program, as well as the Leading Change Institute and Harvard University’s Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians. She is a member ARL’s Scholars and Scholarship Committee and serves on advisory boards for the national Data Curation Network and the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archive, and she has partnered with the Library of Congress in multiple roles, including as an adviser to the Computing Cultural Heritage in the Cloud initiative.
“I am excited and honored to continue working with the incredible University Libraries team, campus leadership, and all faculty, staff and students as dean,” Lorang said. “Academic research libraries are critically important to their institutions and to the world, now more than ever before. I look forward to this important work and to collaborating with our partners within the University of Nebraska Consortium of Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the Big Ten Academic Alliance, and across the state as we imagine a future where Nebraskans are the most sophisticated creators and users of information anywhere in the country.”
Lorang holds a Bachelor of Science in English from Towson University, a Master of Arts in information science and learning technology from the University of Missouri, and a doctorate in English from UNL.
Reporting directly to the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer, the dean of University Libraries is a key member of the executive vice chancellor’s leadership team. The dean is the chief administrative and academic officer of the Libraries and responsible for leading the its current and future efforts to cultivate scholars, students, and members of the public who are astute, critical users and creators of information in all its forms. The dean provides direction and leadership for library locations across campus — Love Library, Adele Hall Learning Commons, Dinsdale Family Learning Commons, the Library Depository Retrieval Facility, and discipline libraries in architecture, engineering, geology, math, and music — and oversees the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
