Information and library science isn’t the most ordinary course of study for most college students. Then again, Devan Donaldson has never been the most ordinary student.

A 2002 L.C. Bird graduate, Donaldson earned his Master’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill last week and has been given a Rackham Merit Fellowship award to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

“The fellowship is a huge deal. You can’t even apply for it; you have to be recommended by another professor for the fellowship,” says Donaldson. “I had received full ride scholarships from UCLA and the University of Texas at Austin, but this was by far the best offer.”

Devan Donaldson, pictured with his mother Lois Street, is working towards a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

The most prestigious award given by the school, the fellowship includes full tuition and fees, medical and dental insurance, a $2,000 stipend each month, and a travel allowance for professional development for five years.

“I will be expected to conduct research, teach graduate students, develop my own classes and develop metadata systems and strategies,” says Donaldson. “They will be expecting a lot out of me, but I am excited to work with people from all backgrounds and continue to learn and grow.”

From a young age, Donaldson’s mother, Lois Street, knew that Devan was different.
“He has always been different in that he always wanted to learn,” says Street. “He was like a sponge; the more knowledge he was given, the more he wanted. He was just a parent’s dream come true. I wasn’t in a financial position to pay for college, so he really applied himself and got these scholarships. He always put in the hard work to come out on top.”

After graduating fifth in his class from Bird with a 4.6 GPA, Donaldson was selected as a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Gates Millennium Scholar, one of only 1,000 from 16,000 applicants selected. Completing his undergraduate studies at the College of William and Mary, Donaldson spent a term as a visiting student at Oxford University in England and was selected to attend the Rare Book School at UVA.

“Being able to attend Oxford was a great experience. Their tutorial system is one on one, so that attention and focus that they were able to provide was very helpful,” says Donaldson. “The Rare Book School was also a great experience because I was exposed to the history of book printing and some beautiful examples of illustrious books. The challenges faced by preservationists in the past aren’t the same as those faced by digital preservationists, but they can be likened to each other.”

With his studies in information and library science, Donaldson has spent his college career studying digital preservation and archives, something that he hadn’t thought of before starting college.

“I had an interest in studying music,” says Donaldson. “Information and library science was something that I had never thought about, but there was an opportunity for an internship,
so I took it. I always knew that I wanted a Ph.D., I just didn’t know that it would be this.”

Though he isn’t pursuing music at the moment, it still remains a large part of Donaldson’s life. A singer since his first performance in fifth grade during a Salem Elementary Christmas concert, Donaldson sings at schools, churches and weddings during his free time. While at William and Mary, Donaldson even had the opportunity to sing for a national audience.

“I was part of the a cappella group the Gentlemen of the College,” says Donaldson. “My first year in the group, we went on a tour of California and went to see the Price is Right. We told the show producers that we could sing, so we got to sing the Alma Mater of William and Mary for Bob Barker during the show.”

Though he has aspirations to sing professionally and record gospel albums, Donaldson isn’t too worried about when that might happen. For now, he just hopes to continue with digital preservation.

“I would like to be a faculty member at a graduate school of library science and create a metadata system for the national library systems,” says Donaldson. “I also hope to work for the Library of Congress or the National Archives. The digital environment and the Internet have totally revolutionized the way records are made. Things are now born digital, so we need to know how to maintain all of those bit streams.”

While Donaldson has been highly successful in nearly all of his endeavors, he has relied on support from a number of people over the years.

“My mother has always supported, encouraged and rewarded me for my commitment to academic excellence. She has always been important to me,” says Donaldson. “I’ve had great support from so many teachers as well, including Margaret Gregory, my chorus teacher at Bird, and Suzy Bolton, one of my English teachers there. Mrs. Bolton challenged me to think critically and to analyze things. She rendered me well prepared for success in higher education.”

Along with support from those around him, Donaldson also credits much of his success to his strong faith.

“I have always been spiritual, but it has gotten stronger over the years,” says Donaldson. “Jesus is the center of my life. I pray when I don’t know which way to turn and He gives me clarity. None of this would have happened without Him.”

For high school seniors preparing to embark upon their college careers, Donaldson has one piece of advice.

“Be open to different opportunities,” says Donaldson. “Always challenge yourself, but don’t get bogged down about one particular thing that you have to do. Pick something that you are good at and enjoy doing. You don’t have to do it forever, but if you do it well, employers will see that. Just don’t be afraid of hard work.”

nderatto@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421

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