WM
William J. Maher
Author of:
Biography
William Maher, University Archivist Emeritus, has 45 years of experience as an archivist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, first as Assistant University Archivist (1977-95) and then, from 1995-2022, as University Archivist and Director of the University Archives. In addition to multiple U.S. and international conference presentations on copyright, since 2000 Maher has regularly taught the Society of American Archivists’ workshops on Copyright Law for Archivists. Since 2011, he has served as the Head of Delegation to represent SAA at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). At 20 sessions of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, he has succeeded in making archival practice and the needs of archives users intelligible to policy makers and has helped advanced the archives agenda to obtain an international standard for library, archives, and museums exceptions to copyright. During his long career, Maher has served as Program Officer related to library and archives projects at the National Endowment for the Humanities (1985- 86). He was elected Vice-President / President (1996-97 / 1997/98) and Treasurer (1991-94) of the Society of American Archivists (SAA); and Secretary-Treasurer and President of the Midwest Archives Conference (1981-85 and 1987-89 respectively) and is currently co-chair of the SAA’s Intellectual Property Working Group. In the International Council on Archives (ICA), he was a member of its Executive Board (2011-18) and Chair (2010-18) of the ICA’s Section on Archives of Universities and Research Institutions. He holds degrees from Case Western Reserve University, Washington University, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As the author of one book and 28 articles, he is a regular speaker on archives and history, cultural heritage, university archival administration, and copyright law.