Expertise

Public libraries in North Carolina, visual language, user-centered design, public library policy.

Education

BA (Geography), University of Texas at Austin
MA (National Security Affairs: Middle East Studies), Navy Postgraduate School
MSLS, PhD (Information and Library Science), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Colonel (retired), U.S. Air Force

Biography

Dr. Ron Bergquist is the son of a couple who met and married in Australia during the Second World War. Born in Idaho in 1946, Dr. Bergquist attended elementary school in Hawaii and Delaware, and high school and university in Texas. Upon his graduation with a BA in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin in 1968, he was commissioned through Air Force ROTC as a 2nd Lieutenant. He began his Air Force career with two tours in Vietnam, was assigned to stateside duties in Texas, Virginia, California (twice), Alabama, and at the Pentagon, and spent eight years in three different assignments in Germany. He served in combat in both Vietnam and in Desert Storm.

After over 26 years in the Air Force, Dr. Bergquist retired on January 1, 1995, at the rank of Colonel and moved to Pinebluff, North Carolina. In November 1995, he was elected to the Town Board of Commissioners and served a two-year term as the Mayor pro tem and as the Commissioner for Parks and Recreation. His work for the Town of Pinebluff prompted an interest in information management. After a discussion about the topic with the librarian at the Pinebluff Public Library, he began his second stint as a graduate student in January 1997 and was accepted into the master’s program at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) in March of the same year. He graduated with a Master of Science in Library Science degree in May 1999 and began his doctoral studies in August of the same year.

After earning his Doctor of Philosophy in Information and Library Science in May 2006, he was appointed an adjunct professor in the summer of 2006 and then a Clinical Assistant Professor in January 2010. He was appointed Coordinator for the Undergraduate Program in 2013, then served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2016-2020.