McCartney wins Regents’ recognition STAFF EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR 2020 BY JENNIFER MASADA, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION MANAGER
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he University of Iowa Board of Regents has awarded David McCartney, university archivist in the Libraries’ department of Special Collections & Archives, its annual Staff Excellence Award for 2020. The Board of Regents created the award in 1993 to recognize staff members from across Iowa’s Regents institutions. Awardees’ accomplishments significantly benefit the university, bring honor and recognition to the university, and make a positive impact on the state of Iowa. Each award recipient receives a $1,000 prize. McCartney received three nominations for the award, from colleagues with whom he has worked during his nearly 20 years with the University Libraries: Margaret Gamm, head of Special Collections & University Archives at the UI Libraries; Erik Moore, head of University Archives and co-director of University Digital Conservancy at the University of Minnesota Libraries; and Mary Rettig, assistant university librarian for advancement at the UI Libraries. Each nominator noted the breadth and depth of McCartney’s work as an archivist and his commitment to ensuring current and future generations of Iowans gain a sense of place and opportunities to learn from thorough and accurately recorded histories of the state.
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Gamm remarks on McCartney’s broad contributions as an archivist. “When I was considering what aspects to highlight of David’s impressive career and impact on the state, what kept coming to mind was not a single project. It was his overall approach to the archival profession his dedication to enhancing public access to history, his devotion to ensuring access for the greatest number of people, his attentiveness to the core values of archivists, and his ever-present respect for those who work with him at Iowa and beyond,” she says. “David is committed to ensuring that university history is remembered and highlighted before a broad audience, and to ensuring that voices underrepresented in the archives, especially those underrepresented in archives in Iowa, sing louder.” McCartney is devoted to advancing the profession and improving archives across Iowa beyond the confines of the University of Iowa, though this work is always tied to the university by virtue of his role as University Archivist. “David’s reputation as University Archivist and de facto university historian is so well-established,” Gamm says. “He has served as a consultant for many smaller archives and libraries in Iowa and spends a significant amount of time volunteering in support of the work done by smaller nonprofits.”
