We are pleased to welcome Hannah Rutledge, PhD, as the new Director of the Biomedical Library.

Hannah comes to Penn from Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library where she served as Interim Co-Associate Director and Head of Clinical Informationist Services.  She began working with us remotely from Atlanta on June 1st, and has just relocatied to Philadelphia.

Hannah is an experienced leader with broad knowledge that will serve her well in the Director role at the Biomedical Library. She began her career as a Medical Librarian at a pediatric hospital in Dallas, Texas. She then detoured to corporate librarianship, serving as Director of Research and Library Services for an enterprise of advertising agencies before returning to medical librarianship. In addition to her MS and PhD in Information Science from the University of North Texas, Denton, TX , she holds a Certificate in Advanced Library Management from the same institution. She is a distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals and has completed several leadership programs, including the Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Having been mentored by the renowned Ana Cleveland, PhD, Hannah is known for her team-building skills as well as for being positive and proactive.

Hannah tells us that she was drawn to this position because “Penn Libraries and the Biomedical Library specifically foster a culture of service and innovation with a staff committed to collaboration and excellence.” She adds, “I look forward to contributing to this exciting culture and working with the Biomedical Library staff to advance our resources, services, and expertise in support of the ever-changing information needs of our user communities. Amazing work is done every day in the Biomedical Library and the Penn Libraries overall, and I’m honored to be a part of its future and its leadership.”

Hannah succeeds Barbara Cavanaugh, who is now in the broader role of Assistant University Librarian for Health Sciences and STEM Libraries.

Please reach out to Hannah at mhr@upenn.edu to introduce yourself!