NYSHEI represents the interests of public and private academic and research libraries in New York State.
NYSHEI assists over 130 member institutions in providing the broadest possible access to information, fostering all academic enterprise, and advancing industry-academic partnerships in support of the “innovation economy.” This includes advocating for academic libraries before elected officials and their staff.
Founded in 2002 under the guidance of then-SUNY Provost Peter Salins, and brought together by its co-conveners, Loretta Ebert, then of RPI and currently with the NYSL, and Carey Hatch of SUNY, NYSHEI is governed by an unpaid Board of Directors that is elected by the membership, by category.
Board Chair
Chris Filstrup is Board Chair for 2008-2009.
Chris earned his B.A. in political science at Haverford College (1965) where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned an M.A. in Middle East Studies at Harvard (1967) where he specialized in Islamic studies. He earned his Master of Library Science degree at Columbia (1974).
He began his library career at the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library as assistant chief and then chief of the Oriental Division (1975-85). From the New York Public Library, he went to the Library of Congress as chief of the Overseas Operations division (1986-91). He served as director of the Cairo office for one year.
Chris’s first university library position was at George Washington University where he was Associate University Librarian (1991-96) in charge of collection development, special collections, technical services, and Friends of the Library. From GWU, Chris headed south to North Carolina State University where he was in charge of collection development, special collections, technical services, preservation and for two years branch libraries serving the colleges of Textiles, Veterinary Medicine, Design, and Forestry (1996-2000). Chris took on his current position as Dean of Libraries at SBU in August 2000. He currently serves on the executive boards of the SUNY Council of Library Directors (SCLD) and the New York Higher Education Initiative (NYSHEI).
Executive Director
A government relations and public affairs professional, Jason Kramer was named NYSHEI Executive Director in January of 2007.
Given a mandate to advance the advocacy efforts of NYSHEI while improving member communications, Mr. Kramer draws up his prior experiences. Prior to joining NYSHEI Mr. Kramer served as Assistant Vice President for Corporate Communications for the Research Foundation of SUNY. He has also worked as the Senior Research Analyst for the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for Public Policy, The Director of Government Relations and lobbyist for the New York State Catholic Conference, and as a staff member in the New York State Assembly in various capacities.
Mr. Kramer has a M.A. and B.A. in American History with a particular interest in the American Transcendentalists. He has served as a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and universities on subjects as diverse as the U.S. Civil War, NYS politics, and political campaigning.