IACRL Committees

Standing Committee term lengths: "Members of standing committees shall be appointed for a three year term and are eligible for reappointment. A member of each committee shall be appointed by the Vice President/President Elect to serve as chair for a term of one year, to begin July 1."

For descriptions and more information on standing committees, see Article X of the IACRL Bylaws.

Committee Member Library/Organization Email address
 Term ends

Awards

Daniel Matthews (Chair)
 Moraine Valley Community College matthewsd29@morainevalley.edu
 6/30/2024
Melanie Emerson School of the Art Institute of Chicago memerson@saic.edu  6/30/2025
Michelle Nielsen Ott Bradley University mnielsenott@bradley.edu
 6/30/2025
Joshua Newport Illinois State University jcnewpo@ilstu.edu 6/30/2024
Joshua Sopiarz Governors State University jsopiarz@govst.edu 6/30/2025
Mary Thill Northeastern Illinois University m-thill@neiu.edu 6/30/2024
Nessa Vahedian Khezerlou   nessavahedian@gmail.com  6/30/2026

Communications

Kim Tipton (Chair) McHenry County College ktipton@mchenry.edu
 6/30/2024
Robin Harris Northeastern Illinois University r-harris14@neiu.edu 6/30/2025
Lori Noe Frontier Community College noel@iecc.edu
 6/30/2025
Janis Shearer University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign jshearer@illinois.edu
 6/30/2025
Dee Anna Phares Northern Illinois University dphares@niu.edu
 6/30/2026

Conference and Continuing Education

Shannon Pohrte (Chair)
 Elgin Community College spohrte@elgin.edu
 6/30/2024
Juliet Gray Southern Illinois University Edwardsville jkerico@siue.edu 6/30/2024
Tish Hayes Moraine Valley Community College hayesl45@morainevalley.edu 6/30/2026
Valerie Moore Prairie State College vmoore@prairiestate.edu
 6/30/2025
Christina Norton Bradley University cnorton@fsmail.bradley.edu  6/30/2026
Amy Odwarka Eastern Illinois University aodwarka@eiu.edu  6/30/2026
Sanga Sung University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ssung@illinois.edu  6/30/2025
Olia Sweiss Midwestern Career College Oliasweiss@gmail.com  6/30/2026
Mary Thill Northeastern Illinois University m-thill@neiu.edu 6/30/2024

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

Laura Barnes (Co-Chair) Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
 l-barnes@illinois.edu
 6/30/2026
Jacqueline (Jackie) Zook (Co-Chair) Northeastern Illinois University jjzook2@neiu.edu
 6/30/2025
Jeannette Bruno City Colleges of Chicago jbruno7@ccc.edu
 6/30/2026
Erik Chapman University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign echapma4@illinois.edu
 6/30/2024
Patricia Chavez Rush University Medical Center prchavez610@gmail.com
 6/30/2026
Donna Goodwyn Elmhurst University donnamg@elmhurst.edu
 6/30/2025
Blanca Hernandez (he/him/his) Erikson Institute
 bhernandez@erikson.edu 6/30/2025
Jade Kastel Western Illinois University jm-kastel@wiu.edu  6/30/2025
Rob Morrison National Louis University rob.morrison@nl.edu
 6/30/2026

Membership

Wendell Johnson (Chair) Northern Illinois University wjohnso1@niu.edu 
 6/30/2026
Melanie Emerson School of the Art Institute of Chicago memerson@saic.edu
 6/30/2025
Gwen Gregory Northern Illinois University Libraries ggregory@niu.edu
 6/30/2025
Blanca Hernandez (he/him/his) Erikson Institute bhernandez@erikson.edu
 6/30/2025
Melissa Merlos Harper College mmerlos@harpercollege.edu
 6/30/2025
Amy Odwarka Eastern Illinois University aodwarka@eiu.edu  6/30/2026
Jacqueline (Jackie) Zook Northeastern Illinois University jjzook2@neiu.edu  6/30/2025

Nominations

Daniel Matthews (Chair)
 Moraine Valley Community College matthewsd29@morainevalley.edu 6/30/2024
Eric Edwards Illinois State Library eedwards@ilsos.gov
 6/30/2025
Wendell Johnson Northern Illinois University wjohnson1@niu.edu  6/30/2026
Michele McDaniel Eastern Illinois University mkmcdaniel@eiu.edu
 6/30/2025



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