Peggy A. McCready

Peggy A. McCready oversees a team of 80 staff members, while working closely with colleagues across the Libraries and the entire University to improve, enhance, and extend library services. As the Libraries’ inaugural Associate Vice Provost of Technology & Digital Initiatives, McCready is charged with developing a digital strategy that prepares the libraries to keep pace with the evolving needs of the Penn community and its diverse constituency, from beginning scholars to the most accomplished educators and researchers. 

McCready’s experience in higher education spans 25 years and a variety of roles at Northwestern University, the University of Oxford, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and Temple University. Most recently, McCready was the Associate Vice President of IT Services and Support at Northwestern University, where she led a team of approximately 95 full-time staff across the following units: teaching and learning technologies, media and technology innovation, research computing, IT communications, and technology support services. In her tenure at Northwestern, she led a University-wide IT service management initiative to ensure the delivery of repeatable, consistent, high-quality services; reconstituted the Learning and Technology Advisory Committee to enhance the University’s ability to support pedagogical innovation; developed a multi-pronged strategy to improve the navigation of University resources for students; and, most recently, led efforts to enhance learning technology and support resources to assist faculty and students with the transition to remote teaching and learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

In an earlier role, as Director of Academic IT Services for the University of Oxford, she was instrumental in building Oxford’s world-class reputation in the areas of IT support for learning, teaching, and research. She spearheaded the implementation of Oxford’s Digital Education Strategy and also led the development and delivery of the university’s first MOOC, “From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development.”

McCready has a Doctor of Education from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Education from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Humanities from the Pennsylvania State University.