Geoffrey Reynolds has been appointed director of the Joint Archives of Holland, located at Hope College.
Reynolds has served as collections archivist with the rank of assistant professor since January of 1997, and has been acting director of the archives since January of this year. He will assume his new duties on July 1.
"Professor Reynolds has served with distinction these past four years as collections archivist and this past semester as acting director," said Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis, provost and professor of classics at Hope. "We therefore have full confidence in his ability to provide effective leadership to this important program, which serves the college, the city, the Holland Historical Trust and Western Theological Seminary. I expect him to continue to preserve and process the valuable records of these separate entities in accord with the highest professional standards, while also promoting the use of these records to help us all to understand and celebrate the history of our community."
The Joint Archives of Holland of Holland, which opened in 1988, brings together the archival collections of Hope College with those of the Holland Museum, Western Theological Seminary and other organizations that contract for archival services. The archives is located on the ground level of the college's Van Wylen Library.
Reynolds will succeed Larry Wagenaar, who has been director of the Joint Archives of Holland since its founding. Wagenaar, who was on sabbatical during the most recent spring semester, has been appointed executive director of the Historical Society of Michigan and will assume his new duties on July 1.
Reynolds's duties as collections archivist have included processing additions to the collection; working with Hope departments and other institutions to provide records management and archival services; hiring, training and supervising student employees and volunteers; maintaining the Joint Archives web site; writing Joint Archives publications; and designing displays for the archives and making presentations to area groups.
In addition to his work at the college, he is currently serving as vice president, and president-elect, of the Michigan Archival Association (MAA). He is also on the Executive Board of the Dutch-American Historical Society; co-editor of the GRIST records management/archives newsletter; secretary of the Holland Area Historical Society; and on the Publication Advisory Committee of the Holland Historical Trust. He is a member of several professional and historical associations, and serves as an archival consultant to the Charlevoix Historical Society. He graduated from the Holland Chamber of Commerce's "Leadership Holland" program on Wednesday, May 9.
He has written articles on topics related to archival work as well as a variety of aspects of state and local history. His research interests include the maritime history of the Great Lakes, and he is currently investigating the military and post-war production of the Foster Boat Company of Charlevoix and the history of the boat-building industry in Holland.
Prior to coming to Hope, Reynolds was a records and information specialist with Infoflo Consulting Inc. in Southfield. He had also been a grants process leader with the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn; an archivist with Schroeder Information Services in Detroit; and an assistant archivist with Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. in Detroit. He was also executive museum director of the Harsha House Museum in Charlevoix, and was a social studies and English instructor at Boyne Falls High School.
He completed his master's degree in library and information science at Wayne State University in 1995. He completed his bachelor's degree at Central Michigan University in 1989.