On January 25, 2024, Executive Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt announced the appointment of Athena N. Jackson as the Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian at UCLA, effective from March 1, 2024. Athena is returning to UCLA, where she previously led the library special collections. In 2021, she went to the University of Houston to become dean of libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell Chair.
At the University of Houston, Dean Jackson leads teams that make library resources accessible, support inclusion, and create learning opportunities. Dean Jackson is also active in open scholarship dialogues at the state and national levels. She has represented the University of Houston with various organizations and groups, including the Association of Research Libraries and the Digital Library Federation.
From 2019 to 2021, as UCLA’s director of library special collections, Dean Jackson led and shaped the future of our special collections and archives. She introduced new ways to handle challenges in special collections, including preserving materials and using digital tools to improve UCLA’s collections' delivery.
She has a Master's in library and information science from the University of North Texas and an English degree from the University of Houston.
To learn more about Athena N. Jackson, please read the BruinPost.
