Todd A. Chavez

Todd A. Chavez serves as Dean of the University of South Florida Libraries since July 2015, leading initiatives at the intersection of library science and interdisciplinary research. His portfolio integrates technical services with digital scholarship, GIS/data management, and open-access publishing.

His educational background includes a Master of Arts in Anthropology (1998) and Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology (1984), both from the University of South Florida. Research interests span Library and Information Science, Geosciences, Environmental Science, and Digital Heritage, with applications in course design, open-access publishing, and digital collections.

Publication trends reveal focus on digital library infrastructure (60%), interdisciplinary data systems (25%), and climate education resources (15%), demonstrating consistent evolution from technical services to integrated research platforms.

• Jean Key Gates Distinguished Alumni (2017)
• GreyNet Award 2007 for Best Presentation

As Principal Investigator for the $16M C-IMAGE project (2011-2018), he coordinated Gulf of Mexico ecosystem research across geosciences and digital heritage. Current initiatives include developing Research Platform Teams that merge traditional library services with GIS/data analytics support for environmental research.

He directs the USF Digital Commons institutional repository and leads national collaborations for digital heritage preservation, with recent work focusing on Caribbean climate change education resources and semantic web applications for scientific interoperability.