As vice provost and university librarian, Denise Stephens manages the University Libraries’ nine locations, the system’s vast archives and special collections, and more than 150 professional and support staff. Prior to coming to Washington University, Stephens served as university librarian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she planned and executed the $80 million expansion and update of the university’s library.
Stephens has had leadership roles at several other academic libraries in the U.S., including the University of Kansas, where she held positions as strategic and organizational research librarian, information management coordinator and vice provost for information services. She also served as a librarian at Syracuse University and the University of Virginia. Stephens earned both her undergraduate degree and master of library and information science degree from the University of Oklahoma.
