Recognized early on as a leader, Whipple began her career in the highly competitive National Library of Medicine’s Associate Fellowship program. She joined the Ruth Lilly Medical Library faculty in 2007 and in 2009, was chosen to complete the IUSM Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP). She later participated in the national HERS Leadership Training Institute for Women in Higher Education. Currently, she is a fellow in the international NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program. The Leadership Fellows Program is for emerging leaders in health sciences libraries; each fellow is paired with a mentor who is a health sciences library director.
During her career, Ms. Whipple received two rounds of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Administrative Supplements for Informationist Services Awards, which integrated her into the research processes of two different research groups at the institution (one basic science and one clinical) where she contributed to improving their workflows and the quality of their research. Ms. Whipple has co-authored 37 publications including eight systematic reviews, and twelve publications utilizing bibliometric analyses to track publishing trends across medical journals as it relates to gender. The bibliometric analyses publications bring visibility to bias in academic medicine, and how that bias affects the publication of papers authored by women.
Ms. Whipple’s service to the Medical Library Association (MLA) has been exemplary, most notably Chair of the Medical Informatics Section (now Caucus) and as a member of the Nominating Committee. Ms. Whipple is a three-time recipient of the MLA President’s Award for contributions enhancing the profession and furthering the association’s objectives. Her work on the Futures Task Force, Communities Strategic Goal Task Force, and Communities Transition Team transformed the fundamental structure of the association.
Her nominators for the Brodman Award summarize Ms. Whipple’s many accomplishments as an impactful leader: “She is a compassionate, positive, and highly skilled connector with an uncanny ability to foster relationships and inspire the best in others” and “Our School, students and faculty, benefit each day from having Beth as a leader on our campus.”
Congratulations Beth!
Read this article on the Ruth Lilly Medical Library News Blog
