Smith College Names New Dean of Libraries

Nancy S. Kirkpatrick has been named dean of libraries for Smith College. Most recently serving as the dean of university libraries at Florida International University, where she managed a $17 million budget and led over 100 faculty and staff across two campuses, Kirkpatrick has had a decades-long career in library administration. She will join Smith in August.

Kirkpatrick has held leadership roles across the academia and nonprofit sectors and has experience as both a CEO and a senior administrator. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois, and was executive director and CEO of OhioNet—a consortium supporting public, academic, and special libraries—prior to joining Florida International University. She brings to Smith broad expertise in the field of library science and experience with board leadership and governance.

Smith College Provost and Dean of the Faculty Daphne Lamothe says, “We are delighted to welcome Nancy to Smith College as dean of the libraries. She brings a wealth of experience in academic and nonprofit institutions that, along with her leadership abilities and multidisciplinary education, make her uniquely qualified to lead the world-renowned learning and research ecosystem that is Smith College Libraries.”

The Smith College Libraries—which include the Maya Lin–designed Neilson Library, Special Collections, the Alumnae Gymnasium, Hillyer Art Library, and the Josten Performing Arts Library—are the intellectual crossroads of the Smith community. As dean of libraries, Kirkpatrick will lead a team of of professional and paraprofessional library staff whose work helps to fulfill the libraries’ mission to advance teaching, learning, research, and discovery for the Smith community and to further support women’s education through an internationally recognized collection of archives and manuscripts documenting the history of women.

“I’m honored and excited to join the Smith College community—a place whose mission, history, and spirit I’ve long admired,” says Kirkpatrick. “The libraries at Smith are more than repositories; they are dynamic spaces for discovery, connection, and transformation. I look forward to partnering with students, faculty, staff, and community members to continue advancing that vision. It’s a privilege to steward such extraordinary collections and to help ensure the [Smith] Libraries remain inclusive, innovative, and deeply engaged with the world around us.”

Kirkpatrick succeeds Susan Fliss, who retired in March, after more than eight years as Smith’s dean of libraries.