Dr. Paul LeClerc, Former President & CEO

Dr. Paul LeClerc, a distinguished scholar of Voltaire and the French Enlightenment, was the President and CEO of The New York Public Library.
 
In 17 years at NYPL, Dr. LeClerc has overseen one of the most important transitions in the Library's history, guiding NYPL into the digital era. He increased library hours to levels unseen in 35 years, and brought major new collections to NYPL. In addition, Dr. LeClerc presided over $500 million in construction and building improvements, the merging of the branch and research library systems, the creation of notable programs and exhibitions, and a more than twofold increase in the Library’s endowment.
 
Dr. LeClerc retired as head of NYPL on June 30, 2011.
 
Prior to joining the Library, Dr. LeClerc held a number of leadership positions at the City University of New York starting in 1979. Most notably, he served as President of Hunter College, the largest public institution of higher learning in New York City, from 1988 to 1993.
 
Dr. LeClerc has authored, edited, or collaborated on half a dozen scholarly works about Voltaire and the French Enlightenment, and co-edited Books, Bricks & Bytes: Libraries in the Twenty-First Century. He organized the Library exhibitions Utopia: The Search for a Perfect Society, The Newtonian Moment: Science and the Making of Modern Culture, La Fontaine: The Power of Fables, and Candide at 250: Scandal and Success. Dr. LeClerc has received honorary doctorates from eleven colleges and universities, including Oxford and the University of Paris. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor and the Order of Isabel La Católica.
 
The grandson of French-Canadian immigrants to the United States, Dr. LeClerc was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire and raised in Queens. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross, spent an academic year at the Sorbonne, and in 1969, earned an M.A., and Ph.D., with distinction, in French literature from Columbia University.
 
Press Release on the Retirement of Dr. Paul LeClerc as NYPL President