Greetings Colleagues, I trust you're well and in good spirits. Continue to practice self-care and caution in all activities. It is with great pleasure that I announce that Jon Peede, former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has been appointed to the HBCU Library Alliance Board of Directors as an Ex-Officio member. Thanks to Mantra Henderson, Mississippi Valley State University for the connection to Jon. He is a visiting writer in residence at Mississippi Valley State University working on the Emmett Till Collection. Jon brings an abundance of experience and connections as we continue our work and begin implementation of the Mellon-funded $1M change capital project. My conversations with Jon have been delightful and bring greater awareness to value and importance of HBCU libraries. Read below for biographical information. Jon Parrish Peede is the former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal grant-making agency. In this role, Peede awarded more than $500 million to libraries, museums, universities, scholars, and cultural nonprofits nationwide. He served in an ex officio capacity on the boards of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, and other federal bodies. His previous positions include Publisher of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the University of Virginia, Literature Grants Director at the National Endowment for the Arts, Counselor to NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, Director of the Operation Homecoming: Writing in the Wartime Experience program, and Director of the Big Read program. He began his career as a book editor at Mercer University Press and as Director of Communications at Millsaps College. Peede has interviewed several significant cultural leaders, including John Hope Franklin. He has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Stars & Stripes, Inside Higher Education, NPR, BBC, CSPAN, and PBS. Peede completed his B.S. at Vanderbilt University and M.A. at the University of Mississippi. He previously served on the National Council of the Margaret Walker Center and Jackson State University (MS). Stay tuned! Sandra Sandra M. Phoenix, Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance 678-210-5801 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Seek justice, honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/