PhD, 2024 Dr. Erin Leach earned her doctorate at the McBee Institute of Higher Education and currently works as a full-time librarian at the University of Georgia Libraries where she serves as Head of Administrative Projects and Organizational Effectiveness. Erin’s dissertation focused on the early development of land-grant education in the postbellum American South with a specific focus on the histories of Alcorn State University, the University of Georgia, and Virginia Tech. Her research interests also include academic freedom, academic libraries in the higher education ecosystem, and state-level politics and their impact on higher education policy. She has been engaged in a multi-year research project with Dr. Timothy Cain on violations of academic freedom and academic due process as understood through an analysis of Association of American University Professors (AAUP) Committee A reports. In addition to her studies at MIHE, Erin is also working toward a Certificate in Qualitative Studies from the Mary Frances Early College of Education. Her interests in qualitative inquiry center on case study methodology, autoethnography, and the (re)mixing of methodologies through qualitative methodological bricolage. Contact Information Email: eleach@uga.edu
