Cynthia Tysick Promoted to Rank of Full Librarian at UB

by DENISE WOLFE

Cynthia Tysick, innovative pedagogy and creative spaces librarian in the University at Buffalo Libraries, has been promoted to the rank of librarian, also known as full librarian, effective Sept. 1, 2026.

Promotion to librarian is the highest professional rank a librarian can achieve at UB, recognizing superior contributions across four areas: excellence throughout a candidate's career, impact on the communities served, research or scholarship that has influenced the field and a national or international reputation among peers.

"Over the years, I have collaborated with Ms. Tysick on numerous committees and initiatives. Most of these projects focused on teaching, learning and developing spaces for instruction. Throughout her years of service, Ms. Tysick has become a recognized innovator in teaching and learning, both nationally and internationally. In the Libraries, Ms. Tysick has worked tirelessly to make the University at Buffalo Libraries LINKT (Libraries, INstruction, Knowledge, Technology) department a center for experimentation with emerging teaching and learning technologies. Ms. Tysick's understanding of how students learn in an ever-changing technological environment has been crucial in her moving LINKT beyond a baseline of instructional technology service, into a working environment that encourages faculty to experiment with such emerging technologies as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR)," said Terrence McCormack, associate university librarian for digital strategies.

Tysick works in UB Libraries Libraries, INstruction, Knowledge, Technology (LINKT) unit, where she helps faculty and library staff integrate new technologies into teaching and research. A member of the UB library faculty since 2001, she previously served as social sciences librarian, taught ULC 257, Research and Library Skills, and, from 2016 to 2023, headed the Educational Services team, supervising and mentoring six librarians and overseeing library instruction and orientation programs. From 2016 to 2021, she created the iLab concept with her team, work that became part of ENG 105, a four-credit writing and rhetoric course with embedded information literacy instruction developed with UB's English department. 

Tysick's teaching extends into UB's Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Program, where she has been an adjunct instructor since 2016. She created and teaches SSC 199, Framing Your Digital Identity in the Age of Big Tech, and this year introduced SSC 431, Humane Technology and Artificial Intelligence. She also designed a three-course Applied Digital Literacy Specialization for SUNY's Coursera platform that has enrolled more than 5,000 learners.

Her scholarship includes an edited monograph, Digital Identity in the Age of Big Tech (Routledge, 2025), along with book chapters and refereed journal articles. She earned a 2023 Fulbright Specialist Award to train academic staff in digital pedagogy at Uganda Martyrs University, and her international consulting work includes serving since 2024 as a senior special adviser to Enugu State, Nigeria, where she has helped build a digital literacy curriculum and an offline digital library for the state's schools. Her earlier Tools of Engagement Project was cited as a best practice in the 2015 New Media Consortium Horizon Report and earned a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship.