Karim Boughida Named New Dean Of Stony Brook University Libraries

Press release from SBU:

July 25, 2022

Stony Brook University is pleased to announce the hire of Karim Boughida as the new Dean of Stony Brook University Libraries. Boughida is an innovative and deeply experienced leader in academic and research libraries and information systems.

"Karim is a visionary thinker who sees the role of the libraries as a hub of discovery, collaboration, and innovation. He will play an integral role in building upon Stony Brook's capabilities as a premier research university, bringing an impressive record of initiatives from previous institutions. He will also be a thoughtful and engaged leader who I know will work extremely well with a very talented group of faculty and staff in the libraries. I am thrilled that he is joining our community,” says Carl Lejuez, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Stony Brook University.

“I am delighted to join Stony Brook University, a top research university that is truly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. I am looking forward to working with the dedicated and amazing library staff and faculty, and community to make the libraries more inclusive, adaptive and innovative. I am honored to be the lead for taking the libraries to the next level,” says Boughida.

Boughida is an internationally regarded leader in data and library/information science. He is a frequently invited speaker for national and international conferences and seminars, and serves on several boards. This includes the board of directors for the Boston Library Consortium, the board of NISO (National Information Standards Organization), and editorial boards for the International Journal on Digital Libraries and the Journal of the Special Libraries Association – Arabian Gulf Chapter.

Boughida’s most recent role has been Dean of University Libraries at University of Rhode Island since 2015. He has led several campus-wide initiatives and strategic partnerships, including a makerspace, the first Artificial Intelligence lab in the world in a library, an XR (extended reality) lab, a Launch Lab for innovation and entrepreneurship, the acquisition and development of Dataspark as a data analytics unit, and the coordination and establishment of data science teaching and research programs. He also expanded engagement with regional and national organizations, including the Boston Library Consortium, HathiTrust, OCLC Research Library Partnership, and CASC (Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation). Previous roles include associate university librarian for digital initiatives and technical services at George Washington University, and senior information systems architect at Getty Research Institute Library.
Boughida holds a master in library and information sciences from the University of Montreal, and a master in library science and a bachelor in library science from the University of Constantine in Algeria. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.

Boughida succeeds Shafeek Fazal, who has served as interim dean during one of the libraries’ most challenging periods in adapting throughout the pandemic. Boughida will reside in Setauket, New York.

This press release was produced by SBU. The views expressed here are the author's own.