Barbara Bernoff Cavanaugh

Barbara has oversight for Penn Libraries Research Services, with a focus on librarians as partners in research and innovation. She also has oversight for Penn's business and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) libraries and library services. This includes the Biotech Commons, formerly known as the Biomedical Library (Medicine, Nursing, Biology); Chemistry Library; Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library; Engineering Library Services; Lippincott Library of the Wharton School; Math/Physics/Astronomy Library; and the Atwood and DuPont Veterinary Medicine Libraries. Having joined Penn Libraries in 1993, she has held several positions for the Libraries including Health Sciences Libraries Liaison, Head of the Veterinary Libraries, Director of the Health Sciences Libraries, and Director of STEM Libraries. In 2003, she was a recipient of the Veterinary Medical Student Government's Commendation Award.

She began her career at the nation's first hospital: the Pennsylvania Hospital Medical Library, Historic Library, and Archives. She also ran the School of Nursing and Medical Staff Libraries at Roxborough Memorial Hospital.

She has a BA (English/Linguistics) from Temple University and an MS in Library and Information Science from Drexel University. She holds a certificate for Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, and is a volunteer TESOL teacher for the Philadelphia-based literacy agency, Beyond Literacy.

She is a two-time mentor for the Fellowship Program of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL).  She is a member of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine, the Member Engagement and Outreach Committee of the Association of Research Libraries, Drexel University's Library and Information Science Advisory Board, and a past member of AASHL's Future Leadership Committee.