On Wednesday, February 16, 2022, EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) Chief Product Strategist Oliver Pesch received the NISO Fellow Award. Oliver was selected by the NISO Board of Directors in recognition of his lifetime of achievement and engagement in standards and development. He was recognized based on his work in the areas of electronic resource management, improving electronic access to content at nearly every institution and at most electronic publishers.
Members of the EBSCO and library community were not surprised to hear about Oliver’s award.
“EBSCO has been very fortunate to have Oliver on our team for 36 years and counting. Oliver has been an advocate for librarians and library users throughout his distinguished career. His thoughtful and insightful ideas and recommendations have been instrumental in the creation of EBSCO’s online products offerings. We congratulate Oliver on this very significant honor and are very proud of him.”
− Tim Collins, President, EBSCO Information Services
“Oliver is one of the most brilliant and knowledgeable executives with whom I have had the pleasure of working. He was already a staple at EBSCO when I joined more than 30 years ago, and through the years I have learned much from him.”
− Sam Brooks, Executive Vice President Sales, Marketing and Publisher Relations, EBSCO Information Services
“Oliver and I met many years ago at an ALA meeting and from the beginning I was impressed with his knowledge of and commitment to information access. This has continued throughout his career and his brilliant work. I am so proud of my husband for receiving this award and the kids and I say congratulations!”
− Sharon Bostick, Former Library Dean
“I met Oliver when I was still at Louisiana State University working on getting an EBSCO product to meet our needs. His knowledge and vision were unmatched. What always amazed me was no matter what time of day I emailed him with a question or problem, he immediately came back with an answer or solution (Even if he was on vacation). He is one of the reasons I chose to work at EBSCO after leaving the academic world.”
− Marsha Aucoin, formerly of Louisiana State University and retired EBSCO Information Services Account Sales Manager
“In the early days of access to resources and the development of our first tools for organizing and providing access to online resources, Oliver and I spent countless hours discussing strategies, product development and implementation and visiting European customers jointly. Oliver was a wealth of knowledge and was the foundation and source for many presentations on the management of electronic resources we did in Germany, Austria, Switzerland among other places. Many thanks to Oliver and all the contributions he made to our teams here and to the development of my own knowledge in this area. I missed those sessions quite a bit as our path took different directions in the last few years. Congratulations Oliver on this well-deserved award.”
− Cary Bruce, Senior VP Finance & Operations Europe & Sub-Saharan Africa, EBSCO Information Services
“Oliver Pesch has been an incredible leader in the development of standards, technology systems for e-resource management, and library systems. He has been an incredible leader, and an influential innovator in our community. Many of the core elements of modern e-resource management would not have been possible without his leadership, his dedication, and his vision.”
− Todd Carpenter, NISO Executive Director
“Here is Oliver’s famous quote to me, ‘let me draw you a picture.’ Now, let me explain … Oliver would talk about intricate technical details, and I would always ask questions to be sure I understood what he was saying because I wanted to be able to explain these things to customers. So, after the first few questions he would say ‘got a piece of paper?’ then ‘let me draw you a picture.’ And then low and behold, I would understand. Oliver always had a way of communicating a process, a function or whatever it may be in terms we could understand.”
− Mary Sue Hoyle, Vice President, EBSCO Subscription Services
“I have known and worked with Oliver over many years. A smart, innovative, future focused and fun colleague and always an influential leader across the information communities.”
− Jim Neal, University Librarian Emeritus, Columbia University
“Oliver has an incredible ability to assess a need and envision a solution. I’ve been fortunate to work with him on many projects, and I’m always impressed by his knowledge and insight. I’m thrilled that his numerous contributions to the field of library and information technologies are being recognized through this award.”
− Kristina Krusmark, Agile Product Manager, EBSCO Information Services
“For the better part of 20 years, Oliver has been my go-to for questions on library technology related to EBSCO, ILS systems, technical standards and pretty much anything else industry related. I can always count on him to have an answer, or to help me make the right contact within EBSCO or even within the industry. He always responds to questions patiently and in layman’s terms; his ability to explain even highly technical topics on a level where most anyone can understand is unmatched. This skill is one recognized and appreciated by our customers, as well –– we often leveraged his expertise and reputation by bringing him along to impress on library visits! Congrats, Oliver, on being recognized as a NISO Fellow –– certainly an award well deserved!”
− Rebecca Day Tucker, Vice President Customer Support, EBSCO Information Services
"So many successful projects at NISO have Oliver's leadership baked into them. Oliver not only possesses immense technical knowledge, but he is organized and sets the pace for participation, allowing other contributors to add their perspectives and input, creating industry standards and recommended practices that are truly collaborative. And, Oliver is really nice to work with! We are so grateful for all he's done for NISO."
− Nettie Lagace, Associate Executive Director, NISO
