Rick Johnson, founding Executive Director of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), will step down on July 1, 2005. His successor will be Heather Joseph, founding President and CEO of BioOne. From today's press release: '"Rick's leadership of SPARC was crucial in making libraries an important force in the process of transforming scholarly communication," said ARL Executive Director Duane Webster. "The news that Rick is leaving is tempered, however by having someone of Heather Joseph's caliber and experience assume this critical role...." Joseph held a number of senior positions with publishing organizations in both the non-profit and commercial sectors before signing on to help launch BioOne in 2000. BioOne is a groundbreaking collaboration among scientific societies, libraries, academe and the commercial sector that works to transform the scholarly communication process by providing expanded access to scientific research results...."I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to an organization deeply committed to expanding access to information," said Joseph. "I look forward to the challenge of building on the strong foundation that Rick has built, and working to advance SPARC's important and ambitious agenda." SPARC Steering Committee Chair, James Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, also expressed his deep admiration for Johnson's accomplishments at SPARC and for ARL's decision to move quickly with Joseph's appointment. "Rick Johnson is a dedicated and heroic champion for open access. The power of his leadership is nowhere more apparent than in the success he had in orchestrating a broad community of support for the NIH public access policy. Heather Joseph is a stellar choice to assume the leadership of SPARC. Her commitment to barrier-free access combined with her experience in scientific publishing make for a perfect leader to address the challenges presented by the transformation of scholarly communication." "Developing and running SPARC has been the opportunity of a lifetime," said Johnson." I'm grateful for the support libraries have given me and I'm proud of the progress we've achieved together. After seven years at the helm, it's time to catch my breath and make way for new leadership and fresh perspectives. I expect to do some consulting and travel and to spend more time with my family. Nonetheless, I remain energized by the issues SPARC is addressing, so I plan to explore new ways of contributing."'
(PS: The OA movement, especially in the US and Europe, has benefitted enormously from Rick's talents at coalition building, organization, and strategic thinking. He'll be missed in his role at SPARC, but fortunately he'll still be working for OA in new ways. Heather Joseph is a superb choice to take over at SPARC. Disclosure: SPARC publishes my newsletter, an arrangement that will not be affected by this transition.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 4/21/2005 05:47:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
