JD Carruthers

JD Carruthers is a non-traditional student who completed a bachelor’s degree in political science from Murray State University in 1986 and a Master of Business Administration from Northern Kentucky University in 1998. He returned to graduate school to work on a Ph.D. in history in 2013 and added the Master of Science in Library Science to his graduate studies in 2017. Before returning to graduate school JD had a twenty-year career in banking and securities brokerage. 

During his graduate studies JD has worked as a researcher and indexer with the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the Special Collections Research Center at University of Kentucky and has taught history for five semesters as a teaching assistant.

JD’s favorite experiences in the LIS program included his internship with Smithsonian Libraries as part of the Alternative Spring Break program. JD worked on researching potential donors to two special exhibits celebrating Smithsonian Library’s 50^thanniversary. He scored temporary use of a director’s office in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History with a window view of Constitution Avenue. Among the most professionally interesting lessons came from the opportunity to tour the digitization lab at Smithsonian Libraries. 

Another favorite experience was the study abroad LIS 690 class which investigated library accessibility. JD spent a total of three weeks in The Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Leiden visiting prestigious libraries including the offices of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions or IFLA. He also made side trips to the Waterloo battlefield in Belgium and to Aachen Cathedral in Germany for historical research and tourism.

In addition to being a professional student, JD is married with two kids, a son who studies at UK and a daughter who is a student at Henry Clay High School. JD is the Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and the Chapter Advisor for Sigma Phi Epsilon Social Fraternity. In 2019 he served as chair for the ODK Transformational Leadership Seminar which featured former hostage Terry Anderson as keynote speaker, and he published a scholarly paper on Institutional Review Boards in the Fall edition of Kentucky Libraries.

JD’s advice for current students is to look for opportunities to develop practical work experience during your studies if you are not already employed with a library. 

“The LIS 672 Practicum is an excellent addition to your CV,” he said.