A two-year postdoctoral fellowship has been established and named in honour of iSchool alumnus and former Guelph University Chief Librarian and Chief Information Officer, Michael (Mike) Ridley (MLS 1979).
Co-sponsored by the College of Arts and the University Library, “The Michael Ridley Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities” will be awarded to a recent PhD graduate with established research in the digital humanities to pursue a research topic, predetermined by the University of Guelph candidate.
The first recipient, Adam Hammond, recently accepted a position in his field at San Diego State University, and a second recipient is being sought to begin in January 2016, until in December 2017.
Valued at $47,500, the Fellowship provides a yearly research allowance of $5,000 to postdoctoral fellows who will receive office space, access to the services of the host institution, and administrative and research assistance.
“The initiatives undertaken by the recipient will help to transform the humanities at Guelph. I am delighted by this prospect and humbled to be identified with it,” Mr. Ridley says.
Each successful candidate is offered various opportunities including creating and organizing a digital humanities speakers’ series for teaching or research, and providing consultation and guidance on digital humanities technology, pedagogy, and space in the McLaughlin Library.
Mr. Ridley has been a professional librarian since he graduated from the Faculty of Information, working at a variety of positions at the University of Guelph, the Health Sciences Library at McMaster University, and the University of Waterloo. Until 2012 Mike served at the University of Guelph as the Chief Librarian and CIO, responsible for the overall strategy and policy administration of the University’s information technology, information services and information resources.
Not one to rest, Mike has also served as the President of the Canadian Association for Information Science, President of the Ontario Library Association, and Chair of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. Someone who likes to keep involved, Mike has also been a member of the Board of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), the Canadian University Council of CIOs (CUCCIO), and the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION).
Mr. Ridley’s current accolade adds to his list of accomplishments. In 2007, he was named “Academic Librarian of the Year” by the Ontario College and University Library Association (OCULA), a division of the Ontario Library Association (OLA).
The following year, Mike was awarded the Larry Moore OLA Distinguished Service Award from the Ontario Library Association. Then, in 2010, he won the prestigious Miles Blackwell Award for Outstanding Academic Librarian by the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (a division of the Canadian Library Association). Nominators described Michael as a “tireless builder – of ideas, of collaboration, of commitment, and most importantly, of bridges between diverse communities.”
During his sabbatical from 2012-2014, he wrote a “book-like-thing” on post-literacy and completed a graduate degree in higher education.
In 2013, the Faculty of Information Alumni Association (FIAA) took its turn, selecting Mr. Ridley as its distinguished FIAA Outstanding Alumni Award recipient for his remarkable contribution to the library profession. And just this year, for his service to the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Mike received the Ron MacDonald Distinguished Service Award.
And, as if that were not enough, while Mike continues to teach Guelph’s First Year Seminar program, he is also editing Open Shelf, the e-magazine published by the Ontario Library Association, and consults with a number of professional organizations.
Congratulations Mr. Ridley!
