The University Libraries are delighted to welcome Daniel Arbino as the inaugural Jay I. Kislak Chair and Curator, effective December 11, 2023. In this role, Daniel provides curatorial vision and direction for the Kislak Collection of the Early Americas, Exploration and Navigation housed in the Kislak Center at the University of Miami in the Otto G. Richter Library. He is responsible for ensuring preservation, intellectual access, academic engagement, exhibition and public programming, as well as ongoing collection development for all thematic components of the Kislak Collection. As Kislak Chair, he is also instrumental in forging bonds and coordinating programming with his respective colleagues at the Library of Congress, Miami-Dade College, and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Arbino’s endowed position is part of the University’s Centennial 100 Talents initiative, which aims to establish 100 new chair-holder roles by 2025.
Previously, Daniel was the head of Collection Development at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked from 2017 to 2023. Before that, he was a visiting assistant professor in the English department at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Daniel completed a Ph.D. in Latin American literature at the University of Minnesota in 2013 and an M.A. in library and information science at the University of Arizona iSchool in 2016. His scholarly interests include Caribbean and Latin American literatures, with a focus on the 20th and 21st centuries.
Please join Head of Special Collections Cristina Favretto in welcoming Daniel Arbino to the University. Dr. Arbino can be reached at danielarbino@miami.edu.
ABOUT JAY I. KISLAK
Jay I. Kislak, a real estate entrepreneur, came to South Florida in the early 1950s and, with his wife, Jean, a former art curator, began building a personal collection of unique manuscripts, rare books, maps, and artifacts documenting the history of the Americas. In 2016, he made a landmark gift from his collection to the University of Miami and Miami Dade College, which is now available to scholars and members of the public. The collection complements the University's role as a hemispheric geographic and intellectual crossroads, connecting institutions, individuals, and ideas across the Americas and throughout the world.
