Bernadette Ewen is proving author Thomas Wolfe wrong.
You can go home again.
Ewen has returned to her Terre Haute roots to make a difference as senior director of Rose-Hulman’s Logan Library and Information Center as well as providing service and leadership to several community groups. She also has been actively involved in state and national professional library and engineering education organizations.
College libraries have evolved in recent years from buildings that have been filled with multiple rows filled with books, reference materials and other scholarly publications to providing several modern services. A common thread is that the library is still a vital link to a campus’ academic landscape.
Ewen Helping Campus, Community Succeed
Library as Lifeblood of Academics on Campus
For the Logan Library, that has brought the addition of spacious study spaces; online and virtual services that make electronic journals, e-books and databases available 24 hours seven days a week; and expanded archives and special collections that provide materials tracing back to Rose-Hulman’s founding in 1874.
“We’re constantly striving to better serve Rose-Hulman students, faculty and staff. We want the library to be the lifeblood of academics on our campus and provide services that enrich the learning environment,” says Ewen, who returned to her hometown in April of 2012 to lead the library’s overall strategic direction and align operational services with Rose-Hulman’s annual and long-term strategic objectives.
Ewen’s strong organizational, research, project management, and networking skills are utilized in the leadership of cross-functional teams that complete complex projects and proactively move academic libraries into the future. She served as vice president for the Academic Libraries of Indiana from 2019-21 and has been a director in the organization since 2018. She also was director of the American Society of Engineering Education’s engineering libraries division from 2017-19 and remains on several of the division’s committees.
Campus Leadership Roles
Ewen’s strong organizational, research, project management, and networking skills are utilized in the leadership of cross-functional teams that complete complex projects and proactively move academic libraries into the future. She served as vice president for the Academic Libraries of Indiana from 2019-21 and has been a director in the organization since 2018. She also was director of the American Society of Engineering Education’s engineering libraries division from 2017-19 and remains on several of the division’s committees.
At Rose-Hulman, Ewen is co-chair of the Office of Academic Affairs’ textbook task force and has been a member of the academic affairs leadership council, Title IX equity resolution panel, intellectual property committee, and digital assets management committee. She also is the institute’s copyright compliance contact, served as secretary for the faculty institute governing group from 2014-18, and wrote Rose-Hulman’s report for the important Higher Learning Commission accreditation review in 2019. Ewen has served as a faculty advisor for the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity since 2013. She received Rose-Hulman’s Excellence in Service Award in 2015.
Community Engagement
Her involvement in the lives of others doesn’t stop there. From 2014-19, Ewen coordinated the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana’s Discovering STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) event, bringing 50 to 75 Wabash Valley girls to campus annually to have hands-on STEM experiences through activities organized by Rose-Hulman student groups and competition teams. Those efforts were recognized in 2019 as Ewen received the St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton Medal from the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana and Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Girl Scouts of USA Volunteer of Excellence honor pin in 2015.
Ewen also has been a volunteer, parish member, and eucharistic minister for Terre Haute’s St. Patrick Catholic Church, a volunteer at Terre Haute South High School and local St. Patrick School, and member of Terre Haute’s P.E.O. AW chapter, an organization supporting worldwide educational opportunities for female students.
“I like seeing young people excelling, being creative, and enjoying their passions. That’s why I became an educator,” she says.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in life sciences from Indiana State University and adding a master’s degree in library science, specializing in chemical information technology, from Indiana University, Ewen worked as an information scientist with Eli Lilly and Company from 1991-98 and was director of library and information while working with Sanofi Pasteur and Legacy Companies from 1998-2012. She also has completed coursework with Harvard University’s Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians (2019), Special Libraries Association (2018), and Switzerland’s University of Fribourg (1987-88).
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