Dr. John Dechant, PhD, MLIS, joined Meadville Lombard in 2023. Having previously worked as a college reference librarian, a higher education instructor, a writing tutor, and an academic editor, John is experienced and enjoys working with graduate students, faculty, and staff on research, writing, and navigating copyright matters. With a BA in History, a PhD in Near Eastern Languages & Cultures—with minors in Religious Studies and Central Eurasian Studies—and a Master’s degree in Library & Information Science, he draws on a broad interdisciplinary skillset in developing our library and archival collections and in reference work. He is especially interested in the Library Science field of Scholarly Communication. He established Melodic (Meadville Lombard’s institutional repository) and maintains academic writing and citation guides along with other library resources.

What is your message to prospective students?

As a new employee, I can tell you first hand that the community here is very warm and welcoming.

What do you like about working for Meadville Lombard?

In supporting student and faculty studies at a UU institution, I get to learn about a wide variety of theological traditions and perspectives.