Timothy G. Nutt Appointed Head of the Special Collections Department

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Timothy G. Nutt. (Photo by Russell Cothren.)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Timothy G. Nutt has been appointed head of the special collections department of the University Libraries following a nationwide search.

“I’m delighted to welcome Tim to this new role,” said Dean of Libraries Carolyn Henderson Allen. “He brings a wealth of knowledge, years of leadership and relationship-building experience, and his good humor to the position.”

Nutt has been serving as the interim head of special collections since February 2012. Prior to that role, Nutt was the assistant head of the special collections department beginning in 2009 and was the manuscripts and rare books librarian since 2005. In that time, he has acquired more than 300 manuscript and book collections and overseen the processing of 185 collections. He continues to build relationships throughout the state by making frequent trips to gather and solicit donor collections and present topics of interest to various Arkansas groups and historical societies.

“I am honored to have been selected to lead special collections, one of the premier academic archives in the Southeast, as it continues its mission of preserving and promoting the rich history of Arkansas,” said Nutt. “Throughout our history, Arkansans have significantly contributed to the state, national and international communities, and special collections will continue to document their stories.”

The University of Arkansas Honors College awarded Nutt the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2011 for mentoring Honors College students in archival practices as well as for his contributions to teaching and research. He has published extensively on Arkansas history and also writes, directs and performs in historical reenactments for the Washington County Historical Society. He currently serves as the president of the Arkansas Historical Association.

Nutt’s scholarly and professional activities include a recent article in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly on the Little Rock Censor Board and entries for the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. He is the co-compiler of Arkansas History: An Annotated Bibliography, which was recognized in the American Library Association’s list of “Top Ten Reference Sources” for 1995.

Nutt was founding deputy curator of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock and founding managing editor of the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Additionally, he co-produced The Little Rock Sound, 1965-69, a musical album featuring Little Rock garage bands.

He has served as editor of the Arkansas Historical Association Newsletter, the Perry County Historical & Genealogical Society Newsletter, the Washington County Historical Society publication, Flashback, and the Pulaski County Historical Review. He serves on the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, as board member of the Arkansas History Education Coalition, and as executive board member of the Society of Southwest Archivists.

Nutt, a native Arkansan from Bigelow, holds a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Central Arkansas and a master of library and information studies from the University of Oklahoma. In 2005, Nutt was inducted into the Academy of Certified Archivists—one of only 13 certified archivists in the state of Arkansas.