Vice President for Research and Education

TO APPLY: Interested candidates should attach a cover letter and resume/CV, both as PDF documents, to their application in the Newberry Career Center. Applications sent without both a resume and cover letter will not be considered. To be considered for this role, applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable to apply for a job on this site as a result of your disability. You can request reasonable accommodations by email.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; those submitted by April 10, 2026, will receive priority consideration. 

SUMMARY: Reporting to the President and Librarian, the Vice President for Research and Education is a member of the Newberry’s senior leadership team. The Vice President provides leadership and intellectual vision to the Newberry in the areas of research and academic programs, broadly understood to encompass students and researchers at all levels. The Vice President collaborates closely with the President and Librarian as well as with the vice presidents of the other divisions with the goal of increasing the Newberry’s visibility and its role as an educational and cultural resource, broadly understood. The Vice President plays a central role as the Newberry’s academic representative internally, with staff and the library’s Board of Trustees, and externally, with colleagues at peer institutions, including libraries, universities, foundations, other cultural institutions, and community organizations.

The Vice President oversees roughly 15 employees, directly supervising six, in the Newberry’s three research centers and the departments of Teacher Programs and Fellowships and Academic Programs. The Vice President also collaborates with the division’s department heads and other Newberry staff to develop, conduct outreach for, plan, implement, fundraise, and review scholarly programs and public-facing projects that make use of the Newberry’s collection, staff expertise, and partnerships. The Vice President is responsible for budget supervision, personnel management, and program evaluation for the Research and Education division.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manage and provide leadership to the Newberry’s research centers, which include the Center for Renaissance Studies, the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography;
• Provide leadership for the Newberry’s fellowship program, including engendering a strong sense of intellectual community among the fellows and supporting the review of applications for fellowships at the Newberry;
• Manage and provide leadership to the library’s scholarly programs, undergraduate programs, and teacher programs, and create new programs designed to bring new or larger audiences to the Newberry or with the aim of growing the Newberry’s reputation;
• Participate through leadership and collaboration in the development, implementation, and review of the Newberry’s academic programs and public-facing research projects; 
• Collaborate with colleagues in Development and other staff in relevant fundraising activities, including grant applications;
• Develop and sustain relationships and collaborations with scholars as well as leaders at peer academic, cultural, community, and philanthropic organizations;
• Perform other activities as required to achieve division and library goals.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• PhD in a field relevant to the Newberry’s collections, with a record of scholarly publications and achievement;
• Commitment to collaborative public humanities work;
• At least three years of supervisory, administrative experience in academic and/or cultural institutions, including experience managing personnel;
• Experience in creating and managing a budget and shepherding financial resources;
• Ability to provide leadership at the Newberry and represent the library to broadly diverse scholarly and public audiences;
• Ability to advocate for humanities scholarship and programming, including through grant-writing and fundraising;
• Understanding of opportunities and challenges facing the humanities, higher education, and cultural institutions.

SCHEDULE: This is a full-time, exempt position, working 35 hours per week, with normal hours generally from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. The incumbent will work additional hours as needed. Remote work may be available in accordance with Library policy; however, the position requires regular onsite presence to support the needs of the role and the department.

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

For more information, please see the Newberry Careers page (https://www.newberry.org/careers).