Emerging Leader Award: Cheryl Oestreicher

Cheryl Oestreicher, head of Special Collections and Archives and an assistant professor at Boise State University, is the 2015 recipient of the Emerging Leader Award. Created in 2011, the Emerging Leader Award celebrates and encourages early career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, performed commendable service to the archives profession, or have accomplished a combination of these requirements.

Since receiving her master of library and information science degree from the College of Saint Catherine/Dominican University in 2004, Oestreicher has exhibited a remarkable record of achievement in teaching, scholarship, and service. At Boise State University, she has done admirable outreach work in the Boise community, establishing a partnership with the Boise City Department of Arts and History and opening the doors of the archives to an array of community organizations, such as the Frank Church Institute and the local chapter of the Wild West History Association.

The Award Committee also commended Oestreicher’s strong record of service to the profession, notably her work as editor of Provenance, the journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists, and success in making the journal’s back issues freely accessible online.

“I have been continually impressed by Oestreicher’s command of current archival practice, commitment to maximizing efficiency of throughput, and enthusiasm for strengthening ties between those who care for special collections and archives and those who use them,” one supporter wrote. “She undoubtedly has an exciting career ahead of her.”