Program

Jon is commercial director at OpenAthens, he has worked in publishing for over 20 years with a variety of commercial and business publishers. His career has spanned the transformation from print to digital as companies have reacted and adapted to new technology. But his belief remains that the fundamental purpose of a publisher hasn’t changed. Accessibility to accurate, intelligent, insightful information has never been more important. Trust is paramount and Jon is delighted that OpenAthens participates in establishing that trust between the publishers, libraries and the end users.

David began his role as the Discovery and Access Librarian in November of 2021. He earned his Master’s in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2021 and a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2018. In 2024 he served as a Fulbright Specialist to a library in Uzbekistan to help modernize their library system.

Emma Wilson-Shaw worked in UK academic libraries for over 20 years, primarily in higher education but also in further education and archives & special collections. She is the e-Resource Manager for OpenAthens, working with libraries, publishers and service providers to make the user journey to content as smooth as possible. Her background includes e-resources, systems and authentication support/management, web editing, enquiry service management, and information skills training.

I joined OpenAthens in 2023 after over a decade in finance as I was looking for something much more meaningful. My role focuses on understanding customer and user challenges through external research and conversations with our account managers and service desk team. I then work with product managers and technical leads to identify possible solutions to those problems, test them with prototypes, and then work with the development teams to make the changes a reality. A big part of this is understanding the technical complexity and finding a way for users to manage it clearly and easily.

Mutali Lithole is a specialist in E-Research at the University of Johannesburg, where she focuses on Institutional Repositories (IR) and Research Data Management (RDM). In her role, she supports the university’s digital research infrastructure, ensuring effective curation and accessibility of scholarly outputs. Her responsibilities include managing the UJ Institutional Repository and providing guidance on research data practices. This role has fuelled her passion for helping researchers and postgraduate students publish and preserve their research outputs, particularly on open access platforms, to enhance their visibility and citations.

Michael joined OpenAthens in 2022 with a background in foreign languages and marketing following his degree in Spanish and French, and has gone on to support OpenAthens’ work around the world, as well as working with partners and customers on important industry topics.

Richard joined OpenAthens in 2021 as a product manager, where he works across teams to shape the OpenAthens offer for library customers. His role centres on understanding the needs of libraries and their patrons, bringing together user insight, knowledge of access and authentication challenges, and organisational priorities to steer development decisions. His focus is on ensuring OpenAthens continues to deliver a simple, secure, and seamless access experience for libraries and their patrons.

Andrew has worked at Swansea University for twenty six years which is a jolly long time. He still very much enjoys his role as lead for the library’s digital services. His current professional interests include the adoption of AI tools and their integration into library services, and improving everyday working processes and practices. Outside of work Andrew delights in running, and finds more variable enjoyment in supporting Nottingham Forest. Andrew’s hero is the Christian missionary Jim Elliot who once said ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose’ – how right he was.

I am a Principal Software Engineer at OpenAthens. My role involves designing and leading the delivery of technical solutions to improve the OpenAthens products, and providing technical leadership to the software engineering teams. Earlier in my career, I worked in the OpenAthens customer success and implementation team, which has given me an intimately customer focussed view of our service. I really enjoy seeing how people use our products and helping solve their problems.

Tania Pemberton has over 20 years of experience in information services. Her Masters in Change Leadership (Oxford/HEC Paris) explored the characteristics of effective questions and their role in driving meaningful change. She has worked across publishing, knowledge management, and library‑focused SaaS, partnering with higher education, healthcare, government, FTSE 100 companies, charities, and global pharma. With experience supporting teams across India, the USA, Australia, and Europe, Tania focuses on smarter discovery, user needs, and information‑led transformation. She believes that effective questions are the engine of discovery.

Originating from the OpenAthens service desk, my goals are to ensure customers get the most from our services and that we continue to improve our services.

I like to hear your goals, challenges, and feedback so we can identify solutions!

… I also want to hear about your pets.

Ian joined OpenAthens in 2022 as a product manager, where he works across teams to shape the OpenAthens offer, with a particular focus on the academic publishing market. His role centres around understanding the identity and access management needs and challenges of providers of subscription-based content and services, and delivering against OpenAthens’ product roadmaps in this space. Ian’s work helps to ensure that the OpenAthens portfolio of products and services continue to deliver secure single sign-on made easy.