Press release from the USDA National Agricultural Library:announced January 20 that Dr. simon Y. Liu was appointed as new Director of the National Agriocultural Library (NAL), effective February 14, 2010.
Dr. Liu currently is an Associate Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Director of NLM Computer and Communications Systems in Bethesda, Maryland, a position he has held since May 2000. In addition to a wealth of leadership, program development, management, and other executive experience at NLM, Dr. Liu brings a rich portfolio of professional credentials and skills to the NAL.
As a native of Taiwan, he received his undergraduate training there. In post graduate training in the U.S., he earned master's degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, and Government from Indiana University, University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University, respectively. He has received two doctoral degrees (Ed.D. in Higher Education and Ph.D. in Computer Science) from George Washington University. He now holds adjunct faculty and graduate school appointments at several of these institutions.
As Director of the National Agricultural Library, Dr. Liu will provide leadership to the world's largest and most accessible research library focused on agriculture and related subjects. On the basis of this diverse training and experience, Dr. Liu has demonstrated those visionary qualities sought in the new Director to provide innovative technological and strategic approaches to the development and operation of NAL's next generation library and information systems for effective customer service, partnerships, and stakeholder support.