Emily A. Hicks

Emily A. Hicks

Written by Ione Damasco, Professor and Acting Director, Division of Information Acquisition & Organization, Roesch Library

Emily A. Hicks was an associate professor and long-time director of information acquisition and organization for University Libraries. A native Kentuckian, Hicks earned her undergraduate degree from Transylvania University and her master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. She was a campus leader who worked across a broad range of academic areas and venues. She was a firm believer in the importance of shared governance, and was as an advocate for both faculty and staff issues across campus, including issues of particular impact upon the women of UD. Her areas of University service and leadership included her participation in Leadership UD and her service on the Human Resources Advisory Committee, as well as being elected secretary of the Academic Senate.

Hicks’s leadership extended beyond UD’s borders to the wider profession of librarianship. She represented the University in the statewide consortium, OhioLINK, as a member of the Database Improvement and Discoverability Policy Team. In 2008, she was selected to attend the Higher Education Resource Services Institute (HERS), a nationally recognized workshop that elevates and develops the leadership potential of women in higher education. She was also a member of the Academic Library Association of Ohio, the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians (for which she chaired the 2008 conference planning team), the Ohio Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Association and the United States Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Association.

Hicks was pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership in higher education at UD, where her research focused on the intersection of emotional intelligence and leadership. Her research spoke to the kind of leader she aspired to be — not just a director or supervisor or manager, but a leader whose compassion and empathy guided her decision-making. Hicks modeled a Marianist praxis of leadership, combining compassion with a sense of fairness and justice into her work as an academic citizen of UD. Over the years, she helped lead the Libraries faculty and staff through strategic planning, work redesign, the renovation and other challenges posed by the dynamic nature of library work.

Through it all, Hicks was known as a highly effective leader and good listener who regularly cheered on the underdog. She sought to create a truly inclusive workplace, always striving to ensure every member of her division knew that she valued their perspective and input, regardless of their role or position. Her legacy will continue through the many women she mentored over the course of her career at UD.