Dean Mike Crumpton has announced his retirement, which will be effective as of June 1 of 2026. More information can be found in the statement below, which was sent out to the UNCG campus community by the Office of the Provost on November 11, 2025.
“After 18 years of dedicated service, Dean of University Libraries Michael Crumpton will retire effective June 2026. Mike joined UNCG in 2006 as Assistant Dean for Administrative Services, earning tenure in 2013 and promotion to professor in 2022. He was appointed Interim Dean in February 2020 and, following a competitive search, became Dean in 2023.
A respected scholar and leader, Mike has contributed more than 100 works in the institutional repository, including chapters, articles, and presentations, and has authored or edited four monographs with a fifth in progress. He has presented internationally, contributed to four federal Library Services and Technology Act grants with UNCG’s Information, Library, and Research Sciences Department, and served as an affiliated faculty member for more than 12 years. For over a decade, he has been editor-in-chief of the open-access Journal of Learning Spaces.
Mike helped shape the UNCG Libraries’ strategic vision and physical transformation through the 2017 Master Space Plan and current renovation project. His professional service includes terms as president of the North Carolina Library Association and program chair and consultant for the NCLA Leadership Institute, and member of the State Library Commission. A member of Beta Phi Mu, the International Library and Information Studies Honor Society, he is widely respected for his commitment to innovation, mentorship, and collaboration.
We are deeply grateful for Mike’s years of vision, scholarship, and service to the University and the broader library community.
A national search for the next dean will begin soon. In the event a permanent appointment has not been confirmed prior to Mike’s departure, Assistant Dean Amy Harris Houk has agreed to step in as interim dean until the new appointee is in place.”