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Bio: Dr. Maurice Wheeler, a distinguished alumnus, earned his PhD in Library and Information Science in 1994 at the University of Pittsburgh.  He earned two master’s degrees from the University of Michigan—one in Voice and Opera and one in Library Science.  He also earned a Professional Certificate in Library Leadership in the Digital Age from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.  Combining his academic backgrounds in library and information science and in music with his passion for archives and history, Dr. Wheeler’s research and publications are centered in cultural heritage informatics related to music information and image retrieval, popular music imagery, and stereotypical depictions of African Americans in historical sheet music, and he broadly explores the intersection of diversity and organizational culture in library practice and education. 

With 25+ years of successful leadership and progressive administrative experience in music archives, libraries and academia, Dr. Wheeler is recognized as an effective change agent, skilled negotiator, and coalition-builder as well as an accomplished cultural heritage researcher, author and public speaker.    An authority on the accomplishments of African Americans in classical music, opera, and the vocal arts, he manages his own consulting firm MBWheeler and Associates, which provides research and curation consulting in music and opera archives, and special collections.

His archival career began as music curator of the E. Azalia Hackley Collection at the Detroit Public Library where he secured the gift of the personal archives of opera singer Roland Hayes. He has spent his entire career as a librarian dedicated to raising awareness of cultural diversity in library collections and information services. He has served as a Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of North Texas and as the Director of the Detroit Public Library.  In January 2023, he was named the Director of Archives at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  Dr. Wheeler works to promote and develop African American music archives and special collections.

Dr. Wheeler is a recognized authority on public library administration, an innovative leader in academic and public libraries as well as serving internationally as a consultant, speaker, and instructor.  He is involved nationally as an arts advocate, and he has served on many local and national arts committees, grants review panels and Boards of Directors, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Opera America/Opera for Youth, The Michigan Opera Theater, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

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This talk is presented by the Department of Information Culture and Data Stewardship.