Fellow: Audra Eagle Yun

Audra Eagle Yun, head of special collections and archives and university archivist at the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) Libraries, will be inducted as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during an awards ceremony at the Annual Meeting of SAA in Chicago, IL. The distinction of Fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.

Eagle Yun, who holds a master of library and information science degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, began her career as a local history librarian and archivist in North Carolina, later serving as an archivist and then head of special collections and archives and university archivist at UC Irvine. Throughout her career, Eagle Yun has dedicated herself to the work of community-centered archives practice, advancements in archival collection management, and nurturing leadership in the field.

She co-led a research grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) establishing quantitative and qualitative findings that articulated how participatory, student-centered approaches in building archives can transform engagement between ethnic studies, community-based archives, and academic libraries. She currently co-leads a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to cultivate commitment among higher education institutions to community-centered archives approaches, solidifying the ability and responsibility of academic libraries to engage critically and contribute to social justice-focused scholarship, training, pedagogy, and partnerships in their communities. Her collaborative work has made UC Irvine a leader in furthering community-centered archives practice.

Eagle Yun’s writing stands out for its massive contributions to the archival profession. She has written widely on community archives practice, archival description, reducing backlogs, and ethical collection building. In 2021, SAA published Eagle Yun’s Archival Accessioning, a seminal work on a core component of archival processing. As editor, she provides a clear introduction to the practices and use of accessioning and brings together ten other voices to provide new perspectives and exercises. Eagle Yun is also a coauthor of “Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries” (2012; 2020) as well as a contributor to the 2019 Statement of Principles for SAA’s Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). She is currently co-editing the third edition of Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts, part of SAA’s Fundamentals Series.

Eagle Yun’s committed and compassionate leadership is evident in the many projects she has undertaken. She participated in the 2013 cohort of the Archives Leadership Institute and currently serves as part of the Steering Committee for the 2024–2026 iteration of the program. Eagle Yun is also an active member of SAA. She has served on numerous committees and, in 2016, was elected to SAA Council. During the third year of her Council term, she served on the Executive Committee as well as the Working Group on Section Assessment and the A*CENSUS II Working Group. Presently, Eagle Yun is an active member of the Waldo Gifford Leland Award Subcommittee and numerous SAA sections. She often speaks at both national and regional archival meetings, providing insights into community-institutional partnerships, archival debt, and management of teams.

One supporter noted, “Audra is a talented archivist, a generous colleague, and a skilled theorist. She has an excellent grounding in archival theory and practice which has served to allow her to lead the call for evolution in the profession.” Another wrote, “Audra often serves as a guiding light in our profession. She is a person who truly lives her values, and it is inspiring to all of us around her to see her ethics and principles ignite her ambition.”