Gerald (Jerry) Perry, AHIP, FMLA, will be delivering the Janet Doe Lecture at MLA ’19, and we know that it will be an uplifting and energizing session as Perry takes us on his personal journey as a professional driven by a passion for access, assessment, diversity, inclusion, and social justice. The talk will also undoubtedly be sprinkled with references to baseball, tiny houses, music, and fashion. This truly promises to be another in the line of incredible Janet Doe Lectures. You need to be there…don’t miss it!
Perry is associate dean for the Libraries and director of the Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona–Tucson. In his role as associate dean, Perry is responsible for assessment efforts across the entire system and coordinates diversity and inclusion efforts. Perry has over thirty years of experience as a health sciences librarian. Starting at the Buffalo General Hospital, he has worked for the health sciences libraries at University of Illinois–Chicago, Rush University, and University of Colorado–Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus, as well as University of Arizona. Perry has been active in MLA, serving as president in 2011/12. His academic and publishing interests originally were centered on the fight for equitable, life-saving access to health information in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. His interests developed to include leadership and administration, informatics, and evidence-based practice, with diversity and inclusion considerations a consistent thread running through his work. Perry was co-convener of MLA’s LGBTQ Health Sciences Librarians Special Interest Group and began his association involvement as a member of Relevant Issues Section, now known as the Social Justice Section.