Philip Walker, director of the Annette and Irwin Eskind Family Biomedical Library and Learning Center, has been invited to serve on the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. The term begins immediately and ends in August 2026. Before his official appointment to the board, Walker served as an ad hoc consultant to the National Library of Medicine in 2022.
Per the Public Health Service Act of 1956, the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine serves as the advisory body to the secretary for Health and Human Services; to the assistant secretary for health; to the director of the National Institutes of Health; and to the director of the National Library of Medicine on all important aspects of policy regarding the library, and is the final review body for the National Library of Medicine’s extramural grant program.
Walker’s two decades of experience in health sciences and higher education and his extensive engagement across the information sciences and informatics disciplines were instrumental in his nomination.
“I was quite shocked when I saw the invitation email last year but am extremely humbled to be part of the board and will do my best to help it fulfill its charter,” Walker said.
“It’s an honor to represent Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the health information sciences community,” he said. “I have often proclaimed how the National Library of Medicine’s Strategic Plan complements and influences the Eskind Biomedical Library’s values and direction, and now the feeling that I can, possibly, have an impact on the National Library of Medicine leaves me speechless.”