Mary Ellen Burd

Mary Ellen directs all aspects of the Penn Libraries’ marketing and communications efforts, creating and implementing a communications plan that supports the Libraries’ strategic vision and growth. This includes ensuring a consistent identity for the Libraries by developing core branding for print and digital communications, directing the creation of all external communications content, and overseeing media relations.

Before she joined the Penn Libraries’ staff, Mary Ellen was director of communications for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, an independent partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Previously she directed communications for the Science History Institute, which preserves and interprets the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences through an archive and research library, a center for research, and an acclaimed museum.

Mary Ellen has a master’s degree in English and American literature from Brandeis University and a bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College, where she majored in English and American literature and religion studies.