Prairie View A&M University in Texas has selected Joel B. Thornton to serve as the institution’s inaugural dean of libraries. Thornton, who will also serve as a professor of practice in the College of Business, will join the HBCU on October 20.
Currently, Thornton serves as associate dean for collections and scholarly communication for the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. In this role, he oversees a $9.5 million collections budget and leads a team of more than 30 faculty and staff. Previously, he held librarian leadership positions with the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M University.
Throughout his career, Thornton has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and data projects on scholarly communication, open publishing, and the economics of information. He is a member of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the Center for Research Libraries, and the Association of College & Research Libraries.
Thornton holds a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from Pittsburg State University in Kansas, a master’s degree in information science from the University of North Texas, and a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas.
