Richard Ovenden, Professorial Fellow of Balliol and Bodley’s Librarian, has been appointed Head of Gardens, Libraries & Museums (GLAM) at the University of Oxford. He will take on his new part-time post in addition to his current role at the Bodleian.
Professor Ovenden succeeds Professor Anne Trefethen, who is transferring her responsibilities as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for People and GLAM to PVC for People and Digital, which now includes leading the iTransform programme, designed to enhance digital capabilities across the University.
As Head of GLAM his responsibilities include providing strategic leadership for the GLAM portfolio and representing GLAM at the key University committees including Council. The GLAM portfolio includes the Ashmolean, History of Science, Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museums; the Bodleian Libraries, and the Botanic Garden and Arbortetum (for more information, see the GLAM website).
On his appointment he said: ‘I am deeply honoured to have this opportunity to lead the University’s Gardens, Libraries, and Museums – one of the world’s greatest groupings of cultural and scientific collections, deeply embedded in the academic and cultural life of the University. Prof Trefethen has been an outstanding leader of GLAM and I look forward to building on her work, and to helping support the GLAM institutions in service of the University, the international community of scholars, and the wider world, to the highest levels.’