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NEDCC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANN RUSSELL TO RETIRE

Dr. Ann Russell has announced that she will retire from her position as President and Executive Director of the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) on November 1, 2008. Assuming the title of Director Emeritus, she will help to assure a seamless transition of leadership.

Following her appointment as Executive Director in 1978, Dr. Russell has led the growth of NEDCC for three decades.  Under her leadership, the Center established a national and international reputation for the quality of its work and the impact of its educational programs. 

She positioned the Center to undertake the conservation of many of the most significant documentary and photographic objects in the country, e.g. the State Charter, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights from the Massachusetts Archives; and the Lewis and Clark Journals from the Missouri Historical Society.  The Center’s core services include conservation of paper, books, and photographs; preservation microfilming; photograph duplication; digitization of visual materials; surveys and consultations; conferences and workshops; and disaster assistance.

NEDCC collaborates with other regional conservation and preservation centers to address national priorities, such as outreach to underserved areas and response to area-wide disasters.  It works in partnership with national organizations, such as the American Institute for Conservation, Heritage Preservation, the Museum Computer Network, and the Center for Research Libraries, to develop new tools and on-line publications.  NEDCC’s Web sites receive more than 6 million hits per year. 

Highlights of Ann Russell’s career at NEDCC include:

• Initiated the Center’s field service office and obtained ongoing grant funding to support staff positions

• Recruited a top caliber staff of conservators who are hardworking, productive, and flexible in meeting clients’ needs

• Funded and launched internship programs that have seeded at least 50 conservators into the profession at labs across the country and advanced the careers of more than 75 international conservators

• Planned and launched the Center’s successful School for Scanning conferences, and put in place funding and expertise to make NEDCC a first-rate center for digitization services and expertise

• Instituted a preservation course at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in 1981 and taught there as an adjunct professor for 20 years

• Initiated and organized conservator exchange programs in Eastern and Central Europe, Mongolia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South Africa

• Obtained a Treasury Department License for travel to Cuba for US conservators to participate in the preservation of the Hemingway Papers at the Hemingway House in Havana, and provided training for the conservators at Cuban libraries, archives, and museums

• Co-authored two books and numerous articles on preservation issues.  On behalf of United States funders reported on the conservation of the Sistine Chapel vault in 1986, and investigated the preservation needs of the St. Petersburg museums 1993-4

• Launched and raised funds for free, online preservation courses, and envisioned and raised funds for dPlan, an innovative online disaster planning tool.  More than 2,400 individuals have logged on to dPlan to write institutional disaster plans

• Raised more than $20,000,000 for the Center from outside sources over a thirty-year period

Dr. Russell also provided the energy and resources to reposition NEDCC through a business planning process in 2002, with the goal of increasing its earned income as well as the national impact of its field service programs.  Other accomplishments include serving as the Chair of the Association of Regional Conservation Centers for 10 years and planning and raising funds for the 1990 renovation of the Center’s facility at Brickstone Square in Andover. 

Russell indicated that while she is stepping away from her role as CEO at NEDCC, she is interested in remaining professionally active in advocacy efforts for preservation and conservation.  She will continue to serve as Treasurer of the Society of American Archivists. 

According to the Chairman of the Center’s Board of Directors, Rob Maier, Director of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Board will make a national search for Russell’s successor.

The Northeast Document Conservation Center is a non-profit, regional conservation center that specializes in the preservation of paper-based materials.  Its mission is to provide conservation and imaging services, including digitization, to institutions that lack in-house expertise; to enable libraries, museums, and archives to improve their preservation programs; and to provide leadership to the conservation and preservation fields.