Provost Peggy Agouris sent the following message to the campus community on June 6, 2026. – Ed.
Dear William & Mary students, faculty, and staff,
I am pleased to announce that Laura Gariepy will soon join the university as the next dean of W&M Libraries, leading one of the top university library systems in the country.
Dr. Gariepy brings to William & Mary remarkable strengths, rooted in almost two decades of academic library experience, and promises to advance opportunities at W&M Libraries with alacrity and skill. She offers considerable expertise in leading organizational transformations, stewarding capital initiatives, and cultivating important partnerships that contribute to the libraries’ advancement.
Dr. Gariepy is currently serving as the associate dean for research and learning at Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library, a role that she has held since 2018. She has excelled in several positions at VCU centered in teaching and learning since she began there as an undergraduate research librarian in 2009. I invite you to learn more about her at William & Mary News.
When she joins William & Mary on Aug. 10, Dr. Gariepy will take the helm of a comprehensive university library system that has earned national acclaim as No. 3 in the country. She will report directly to me and have six direct reports of her own, in addition to leading the more than 60 employees of W&M Libraries.
The search committee, led admirably by Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Suzanne Raitt, found in Dr. Gariepy an exciting leader who promises to meet the university’s goals to strengthen the library as an anchor of the campus and community; who represents a strategic partner for research and scholarship support; who will advance digital scholarship, data, and emerging technologies; and who will advocate for and sustain W&M Libraries’ dedicated faculty and staff.
I would like to express my gratitude to Suzanne and the entire committee for conducting a successful search that resulted in finding an exceptional candidate in Dr. Gariepy. I would particularly like to recognize Lisa Nickel for her capable leadership as interim dean since December and her thoughtful participation on the search committee.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Gariepy in August.
Peggy