Staff Biographies

Barbara J. Ford
Barbara J. Ford is the director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and Mortenson Distinguished Professor at the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was the 1997-1998 president of the American Library Association (ALA) and her theme was “Libraries: Global Reach, Local Touch.”

Barbara previously worked as assistant commissioner for central library services at the Chicago Public Library, executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University libraries, and associate library director at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She served in several capacities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, including documents librarian and audiovisual librarian. In addition, Barbara was director of the Soybean Insect Research Information Center at the Illinois Natural History Survey and a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama and Nicaragua.

She was president of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of ALA, from 1990 until 1991. She currently is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Governing Board. She previously served as the secretary for the IFLA Section on Government Information and Official Publications and on the IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section.

The author of many publications and presentations, Barbara has traveled around the world to address topics such as information literacy, government information, the future of libraries, the role of library associations, international cooperation among libraries, and virtual libraries.

Barbara earned a bachelor's degree in history and education from Illinois Wesleyan University, a master's degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a master's degree in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Susan Schnuer
Susan Schnuer is the associate director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has worked at the Mortenson Center since 1992 and has been responsible for creating many of the Mortenson Center professional development programs. Susan offer seminars to Mortenson visitors in the areas of communication skills, fund-raising strategies, and working with the disabled.

Susan worked previously as a field services coordinator at the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education in Washington, DC. She was a bilingual education consultant for the Midwest Resource Center in Illinois and was responsible for presenting seminars and workshops for teachers in six Midwest states. Susan also worked as a bilingual education teacher in Massachusetts and as an elementary school teacher in Louisiana.

Susan has been active in the American Library Association. She was the chair of the International Papers Committee for three years and served on the International Relations Publications Committee. She currently is chair-elect of the International Relations Round Table. She also is a member of IFLA's Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Committee.

Susan received her bachelor's degree in early childhood education from Tufts University and her first master's degree in education from Boston University. She also earned a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.