I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I attended Nebraska Elementary School, Franklin Junior High School, and North Side High School. I attended Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) where I earned my B.S. degree in Mathematics. I attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN) where I earned my M.S. degree in Mathematics, an M.A. degree in Library Science, and my Ph.D. degree in Library Science.

I began at Ball State University in early November 2002 as Dean of University Libraries after serving as Professor and Dean of University Libraries for five years at Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ). Prior to my appointment at The Hall, for three years I was Professor and Chief Librarian at the College of Staten Island, a senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. My earlier positions include serving as the Director of the Division of Library and Information Management at the American Medical Association, Director of Library Services at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (now Midwestern University), and Director of the Health Sciences Library at the University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus. Prior to that I was the Medical Librarian at Mount Sinai Hospital (Minneapolis, MN).

Most recently, I earned my Master of Business Administration degree from Seton Hall University’s W. Paul Stillman School of Business, Class of 2001, with a marketing concentration.

I am interested in organizational improvement and strategic planning that is informed through tools such as marketing plans, gap analyses, strength-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analyses, benefit-cost analyses, value creation through innovation, benchmarking and cost benchmarking, and modeling.

As an administrator and librarian, I enjoy planning and resource management in a collaborative environment that supports and strengthens the role of the university libraries as a strategic asset that supports student pursuits for academic success and faculty endeavors for classroom instruction and knowledge creation.

As an educator I enjoy the adventure, excitement, and personal satisfaction of participating in seminars, workshops, and professional development programs to help colleagues, students, and others discover and understand new and interesting relationships for theory and its application in an academic library. I am particularly interested in applying quantitative and qualitative techniques for improving planning and operational performance, the application and use of managerial descriptive statistical techniques, and implementation of strategies for expanding the University Libraries’ role in the Student’s Success Plan.

Arthur W. Hafner, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Dean of University Libraries
March, 2003

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