Jerome Offord, Jr. is the Associate University Librarian (AUL) for Antiracism. Expanding upon the library’s strong record of diversity initiatives, the AUL for Antiracism collaborates extensively to develop strategies for systemic change through the library’s workforce, services, collections, and spaces. Before joining Harvard, Jerome served as the Vice President for Business and Administration at DeEtta Jones and Associates. Jerome has held senior cabinet positions at Lincoln University of Missouri, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), over a span of eight years. Initially hired as Dean of Library Services and Archives, he was soon asked to serve as Interim Provost and Interim Chief Information Officer. He was subsequently appointed Chief of Staff to the President, and then Dean of Administration and Student Affairs. Jerome’s other professional experiences include serving as Diversity Officer and Corporate Inclusion Manager at OCLC; Director of Diversity Initiatives at the Association of Research Libraries; Director of Finance and Development at Us Helping Us, People Into Living; and in student affairs roles at Colorado State University, George Washington University, and American University.

Jerome’s educational credentials include a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science, with an emphasis in Managerial Leadership, from Simmons University in Boston; master’s degrees in Library and Information Science from the Catholic University of America and in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University; and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Lincoln University. Jerome is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Washington University in St. Louis.