We’re excited to announce two new additions to the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) Steering Committee. Patricia Hswe and Michael Vandenburg have been appointed as at-large members for the 2026–2029 term.

Patricia Hswe (pronounced “sway”) is the program director for Public Knowledge at The Mellon Foundation. As the Foundation's program area supporting libraries and archives, Public Knowledge makes grants that strive to increase equitable access to—and activation of—recorded knowledge that helps to build an informed, heterogeneous, and civically engaged society.

Previously, Patricia worked in the libraries at The Pennsylvania State University, where she co-led a department of librarians providing services in research data management, digital scholarship support, and library-based publishing, and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she was program manager for a set of grant initiatives funded by the Library of Congress and by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. She was also a member of the inaugural cohort of the Council on Library and Information Resources postdoctoral fellowship program and was based for two years in the former Slavic and East European Studies Library at UIUC.

Originally a Russian literature scholar, Patricia holds a PhD in Slavic languages and literatures from Yale University. She also has a bachelor of arts in Russian language and literature from Mount Holyoke College and a master of science in library and information science from UIUC. Patricia is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (also known as METRO) and sits on the advisory team for LibraryPAC, a political action committee dedicated to supporting libraries in New York City.

Michael became the executive director of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) in February 2026, after serving on the Board of Directors from 2023–2025. He provides CARL with strategic, operational, and financial leadership and works closely with the board of directors to advance its mission, strategic priorities, and governance, while overseeing programs, partnerships, and day-to-day operations. He joined CARL from Dalhousie University, where he served as dean of libraries since 2022, providing strategic leadership for five libraries, two learning commons, and a broad portfolio of academic and digital services.

Prior to his role at Dalhousie, Michael served as interim executive director of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL), where he led the consortium’s mission, strategy, and operations, and supported large-scale shared services such as Scholars Portal. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at Queen’s University Library, including interim vice-provost and university librarian.

"I'm delighted to welcome Patricia and Michael to the Steering Committee," said Kate Zwaard, CNI executive director. "Their combined experience spanning equitable knowledge access, research libraries, and consortia leadership will strengthen the diversity of thought that guides CNI's work at a pivotal time for our community."

Patricia and Michael join two other at-large members of the CNI Steering Committee: Daniel Cohen, vice provost for information collaboration and dean of the library, Northeastern University, serving 2026–27, and Keith Webster, dean of university libraries and director of emerging and integrative media initiatives, Carnegie Mellon University, serving 2026–28; alongside three representatives appointed by each of CNI’s sponsor organizations, ARL and EDUCAUSE, and the executives from CNI, ARL, and EDUCAUSE who serve as ex officio members. The Steering Committee meets throughout the year to guide CNI programming and development.

About CNI
CNI is a joint initiative of ARL and EDUCAUSE that promotes the use of information technology to advance scholarship and education. Over 200 institutions representing higher education, publishing, information technology, scholarly and professional organizations, foundations, and libraries and library organizations make up CNI’s members. Learn more at cni.org.