Kaye Gapen, 1943-2019, became a leader in academic librarianship

D. Kaye Gapen, who earned her Master of Librarianship at the University of Washington in 1971 and went on to become a leading figure in the field of academic librarianship, passed away Feb. 14.

Born in 1943, Gapen earned her BA in sociology at the UW in 1970 before earning her M.Lib. She began her professional career as a cataloger at the College William and Mary, then moved on to Ohio State as assistant head of the Quick Editing section (1972-1974) and head of cataloging (1974-1977). She became assistant director of technical services at Iowa State University in 1977; dean of the University Libraries at the University of Alabama in 1981; dean of the General Library System at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1984; director of the University Library at Case Western Reserve University in 1991; and director of Library and Academic Services at Trinity Washington University in 2005 before serving as Trinity’s and vice president and provost from 2007-09.