Fold, crease. Fold, crease. With each fold, a new form takes shape.
Hilary Seo first learned the art of origami in Japanese language school in Southern California sitting shoulder to shoulder with her sister, Audrey. The two were sent there by their parents, Alice, a dental hygienist, and Eddie, an electrochemist, to discover more than the Japanese language. For a few hours after school, they were exposed to the tenets of their culture.
“We learned about Obon, Japanese festival dances, and origami, too,” said Seo, the Colonel Gary G. Swenson Ph.D. Dean of Library Services at Iowa State University.
“Education was number one in our family. It was understood you can do whatever you want in life as long as you get an advanced degree.”
Audrey became an Asian art historian. Seo was drawn to chemistry, like her father, but once at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she discovered physical anthropology in which she earned a bachelor's in 1991.
“It was more interesting to me and more fun,” she said. “I worked at the library at UCSB as an undergrad and was first introduced to the idea of library school.”
She pursued graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in anthropology thinking a Ph.D. was in her future. When she discovered she didn’t want to teach, it was time for a new path.
Book doctor to dean
“My sister had heard about book conservation and asked if I had thought about becoming ‘a book doctor’,” Seo said. “I found the library school and landed a job with the Wisconsin State Historic Society in the archives and paper conservation lab, where hand skills learned in origami came in handy.”
She earned a master’s in library and information science in 1993 and went on to earn a certificate of advanced study in preservation administration from the University of Texas at Austin, in 1995.
Following an internship at the Center for the History of Art and the Humanities at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, Seo served as preservation librarian at Georgetown University Law Library. She was drawn to Iowa State in 2003, joining the library as head of Preservation and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2009. Seo went on to serve as associate dean for Curation Services.
“I reported to Associate Dean David Gregory who became an important mentor for me and taught me a lot about organizational leadership,” Seo said. “Dean Beth McNeal hired me as permanent associate dean and became my next big supporter. She ultimately recommended me as interim dean and urged me to apply to be dean.”
Seo began her tenure as interim dean in 2019 and promptly led the University Library through a global pandemic.
“I was impressed by and proud of our library staff as they rallied around each other and continued to support our campus and surrounding communities throughout the pandemic,” Seo said.
Together, Seo and staff oversaw a transition to remote work for more than 100 library employees, ensured online access to resources, and implemented a laptop and hotspot shipment program to support Iowa State students and scholars.
After a national search in 2021, Seo was named dean.
