Mary O'Kelly

Mary O’Kelly is the associate dean for strategic planning and research and a professor in the University Libraries at Western Michigan University. She has served as co-chair of the University Libraries faculty and as an active member of multiple professional associations, currently serving as president of the Michigan Academic Library Association. Her administrative portfolio includes strategy and planning, research advocacy, assessment, organizational learning, and special and emerging initiatives.

Prior to joining Western Michigan University, she was the head of instructional services in the University Libraries at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Associate Dean O’Kelly has expertise in organizational planning, change leadership, collaborative partnerships, faculty governance, group facilitation, and the library’s role in student retention. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and she is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Change Leadership, with a research agenda focused on the relationship between individuals’ paradox mindset and change resistance.