2/3/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Dean Hwa-Wei Lee, the man credited with directing Ohio University Libraries' rise to national and international prominence, has announced he will retire Sept. 1, 1999, after 21 years of service to the university.
Since he began directing Alden Library in 1978, Lee has overseen a series of successful projects, including the International Librarian Internship Program, which has attracted more than 150 librarians and information professionals to the Athens campus.
Also during Lee's tenure, the library's Southeast Asia Collection has grown into one of the top resources of its kind in the world; the U.S. national depository for the publications of Malaysia, Botswana, Swaziland and Guatemala; and among the first in Ohio to automate its library and circulation systems in 1980.
The library's endowment fund has grown from less than $10,000 when Lee took over to more than $7 million today. Under Lee's leadership, University Libraries have earned more than $4 million in federal, state and outside funding and in 1995 achieved membership in the prestigious Association of Research Libraries.
With the new $2.2 million library annex now open on Columbus Road, Ohio University Libraries' collection includes 2.1 million print volumes, 2.5 million pieces in microformat, 25,256 current serial titles, and 397,000 pieces of non-print materials of slides, tapes and video.
Lee has conducted numerous lectures on library science in Asia, the United States and his native China. In October, Lee was among 30 academic officials who met with People's Republic of China President Jiang Zemin in New York City during Zemin's controversial visit to the United States.
Lee said he announced his retirement early to give the university time to find a suitable replacement.
"I am in great debt to all my colleagues in the Ohio University Libraries for their commitment, dedication and teamwork in a joint effort to bring our libraries to the national and international eminence which we now enjoy," Lee said. "We also owe our successes to the recognition by the university administration of the significant role played by the libraries in the overall educational, research and service missions to the university. And we owe much to the generosity of numerous donors, who provide annual giving and major gifts."
Provost Sharon Brehm said Ohio University has benefited greatly from Lee's contributions.
"Dean Lee's achievement on behalf of the University Libraries is truly remarkable and stands as one of the most important accomplishments in the history of Ohio University," she said. "He has served us all well by setting high standards of excellence and by establishing great expectations for the University Libraries well into the next century."
Brehm said she is meeting with groups throughout the university to discuss the process of finding Lee's successor and to identify the areas of expertise that will be sought in candidates for the position. She hopes to have a search committee in place by late spring and begin the actual search process at the start of fall quarter 1998.
"Assuming no major delays in the search process, we could look forward to making the appointment in April or May 1999, with official responsibilities to begin sometime during that summer," Brehm said.