Gift creates the vice provost and Lindseth Family University Librarian position as national search for Hirshon’s successor begins
After more than a decade as Case Western Reserve’s vice provost and university librarian, Arnold Hirshon will retire at the end of 2021. And in recognition of his impact on the university and Kelvin Smith Library—and to help ensure Hirshon’s leading-edge work continues with his successor—Jon Lindseth and the Lindseth family have endowed the position of vice provost and Lindseth Family University Librarian, which Hirshon will hold until his retirement.
As the university begins a national search to fill the position, Hirshon—whose achievements and advancements at the university’s main library have strengthened its reputation as a hub of scholarly learning and innovation—said he is “deeply humbled” to hold the endowed position created by the Lindseth family.
Made as a lasting tribute to the philanthropic commitment of their father and grandfather, Elmer Lindseth (CIT ’25), the collective gift is from:
- Jon, his wife, Virginia (Ginny) (GRS ’80, MGT ’87), and their children, Steven, Andrew, Peter and Karen Lindseth Parker;
- Jon’s sister Marta Lindseth Jack, her husband Donald Jack, and their children, Craig and Douglas; and
- the family of Jon’s late sister, Jo Ellen Lindseth Busser—her husband, Robert Busser, and children, Andrew, Jonathan (Jock) and Duncan.
Elmer Lindseth was president of Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. and served as chairman of Case Institute of Technology’s Board of Trustees at the time of the federation with Western Reserve University. He continued on as a member and, later, an honorary trustee of Case Western Reserve.
“The library is the heart and soul of our institution and a meeting place for discovery, understanding and greater thought,” said Ben Vinson III, provost and executive vice president of Case Western Reserve. “I’m incredibly grateful to the Lindseth family for their wonderful contribution that will forever institutionalize and elevate the position of the university librarian at Case Western Reserve.”