Martha Gould, NCLIS Vice Chair and Chair, Personnel Committee, stated, "The NCLIS Members selected Commissioner Willard as their Executive Director. With the advantage of Bob Willard's technical knowledge and background, the Commission can achieve new and higher levels in its technology and productivity. It is the good fortune of NCLIS and of the library and information science community at large that Mr. Willard has accepted this important position."
As Executive Director, Willard has responsibility for providing leadership, direction and planning of national programs to "assure the optimum provision of library and information services to the people of the United States." He is directly responsible to the Commission and will work in cooperation with state and local governments and public and private agencies to carry out the Commission's mandate in its enabling legislation, Public Law 91-345.
Willard's professional career includes more than 12 years as a marketing executive for legal publishing companies. He also spent 15 years in association management with trade, professional and educational associations in Washington, DC.
He was a U.S. Army Officer with service in Vietnam. He has an M.S.A. in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from The George Washington University and a B.S.F.S. in International Relations from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He served as an At-Large Delegate to the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS) and as Group Facilitator at the 1979 White House Conference.
Willard is married to the former Carolyn Crouse, a librarian at Children's National Medical Center. They have a daughter and two sons. He is a long-time collector of books and other material about Abraham Lincoln and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent, independent agency of the Federal government charged by Public Law 91-345 to advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information policies and plans.