Betsy L. Humphreys has been appointed Deputy Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The appointment was announced by Library director Donald A.B. Lindberg, M.D. The NLM, the world’s largest library of the health sciences, is a part of the National Institutes of Health.

The Library serves as a national and international biomedical and genomic data resource for scientists, health professionals, academia, and the general public. The Deputy Director shares responsibility with the Director for overall program development, program evaluation, policy formulation, direction and coordination of all Library activities. In addition, the Deputy Director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Library, and in the absence of the Director, assumes full responsibility for all functions performed by the National Library of Medicine.

Ms. Humphreys has served as NLM Associate Director for Library Operations since 1999. In that role, she provided outstanding leadership and technical direction to the Division of Library Operations, the largest division in NLM. This includes management of a multidisciplinary staff of librarians, technical information specialists, subject experts, health professionals, historians, and technical and administrative support personnel, as well as a large number of contractors. In addition to these responsibilities, Ms. Humphreys also has important responsibilities for medical informatics R&D, health data standards, and NLM’s programs in health services research.

“Ms. Humphrey’s comprehensive knowledge of NLM’s programs, along with her managerial acumen and leadership in some of the most important issues facing biomedicine, makes her exceptionally qualified to oversee the Library=s day-to-day operations and successfully lead its diverse activities into the future,” said Dr. Lindberg in announcing the appointment. He also noted that she was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ms. Humphreys joined the NLM in 1973 and held various increasingly responsible managerial positions prior to assuming the Associate Director for Library Operations position, including serving as the Deputy Associate Director for Library Operations for 15 years and as Assistant Director for Health Services Research Information since 1986. She holds a Bachelors degree in history from Smith College and a Masters in Library Science from the University of Maryland.

Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Library of Medicine, the world's largest library of the health sciences, is a component of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.