Mac Ice was recently appointed to a faculty position at the ACU Library, serving now as Special Collections Librarian and Archivist. Mac came to the library in 2013 as the Digital Archives Specialist. The job involved a wide range of support for teaching and learning and using rare books and archive materials.
He is trained in Biblical Studies, Church History, and Historical Theology earning degrees from Lipscomb University, BA, MA and M.Div. and library degree (MLS) from the University of North Texas with an emphasis in archival studies. Mac also earned a certificate from the National Archives and Records Administration through their Modern Archives Institute.
Mac’s first career was in teaching, and one that he loved very much. He explained, “It was a difficult decision to leave the classroom for the archive. The opportunity to work with the primary sources of the Stone-Campbell Movement, though, was an opportunity I could not refuse. At the same time archives are rich in opportunity for teaching in a variety of contexts and applications beyond traditional classroom teaching.”
ACU Special Collections and the Center for Restoration Studies have broad and deep collections. Callie Faye Milliken, Erma Jean Loveland and R. L. Roberts (former Special Collections Librarians and Archivists), Bill Humble (founding director of the Center for Restoration Studies and Church History Professor), and Doug Foster, (current director of the Center for Restoration Studies) assembled an excellent archive. When asked what he hopes to achieve in Special Collections, Mac replied, “We are poised to enhance an already fine collection by ensuring it is of the highest quality, broadest representation, and easily searchable and useable. This is an ambitious goal, and one that will keep us in a perpetual quest, but a worthy one nonetheless. Ultimately, we want to serve our students and the broader academic community with the very best in terms of collections and research services.”
Dr. Carisse Berryhill, Associate Dean for Archives and Collections is delighted to be working with Mac. She shares, “I honor Mac’s courtesy and skill in teaching and helping researchers, his awesome knowledge of the Stone-Campbell movement, his diligence and discipline, and his spiritual leadership and service to his family and the church. I am profoundly thankful to God for Mac’s presence in our community of scholarship, teaching, and service.”
by Mollie Scherer, Library Communications and Development Officer
Mac Ice