Jay Jordan

President and Chief Executive Officer, OCLC

Jay Jordan became the fourth president in OCLC's 41-year history in May 1998. Under his leadership, OCLC has built a new technological platform, introduced new services, created a library advocacy program and introduced new initiatives to make library holdings and libraries more visible on the open Web.

Jay came to OCLC after a 24-year career with Information Handling Services, an international publisher of databases, where he held a series of key positions in top management, including president of IHS Engineering. Prior to joining IHS, he held positions with the 3M Corporation in Europe and the United States.

Jay is active in a number of professional organizations, including the American Library Association and the Special Libraries Association. He is a is a Fellow of the Standards Engineering Society, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Library Administration and member of the Governing Board of Publishing of the American Chemical Society. He is a member of the Board of Visitors of the School of Information and Library Science, the Louis Round Wilson Academy and Knowledge Trust at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In Columbus, Ohio, Jay is a member of the boards of the Children's Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital; and Franklin University. He serves as the executive chairman of the board of directors of TechColumbus. He is a member of the Digital Union External Partners Advisory Panel, The Ohio State University. He has served as a Campaign Cabinet member of the United Way of Franklin County.

Jay graduated from Colgate University in 1965 with a BA in English literature and served as a U.S. Army officer in Germany.