David Prichard, known as Skip Prichard, is an American business executive who serves as president and CEO of

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

, a global nonprofit computer library service and research organization.

Early life and education

Prichard was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and grew up in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from Towson University and graduated with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Career

Prichard held executive positions with

LexisNexis LexisNexis is an American data analytics company headquartered in New York, New York. Its products are various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper searc ...

from 1995 to 2003. As vice president, he focused on business information and risk management solutions for corporations, libraries, and other organizations. Prichard was general manager and senior vice president of sales and marketing at

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...

Information and Learning, a global publisher and information provider, from April 2003 to October 2005. From October 2005 to April 2007, he served as president and CEO of ProQuest. In February 2006, an accounting irregularity was discovered, creating financial difficulty for the company. In November 2006, ProQuest sold its Business Solutions automotive division to Snap-on Incorporated for $481 million. The proceeds of this transaction were used to repay debt. Prichard served as COO and then as president and CEO of Ingram Content Group Inc., a print and digital services supplier to the book industry, from August 2007 to June 2012. Prichard was responsible for the $1.5 billion global enterprises that included Ingram Book Group, VitalSource, Coutts Information Services, and Ingram Library Services. Prichard was named president and CEO of

on July 1, 2013. During his leadership, OCLC has expanded their WorldCat Discovery Services as ProQuest added more than 320 million records, enhancing library discovery. ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

'' noted Prichard as a "standout example" of CEO engagement on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, writing that he "blogs nonstop on leadership and shares insights from his favorite authors – with no direct benefit to him or his organization." In 2021, Prichard received $2.19 million in total compensation. In 2017, Prichard published ''The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future'', based on stories culled from interviews of "over a thousand unbelievably successful people ranging from politicians to news anchors to sports heroes." Prichard said, "I wrote it from the mistake angle because I actually learned as much, if not more, from people talking about their mistakes. All of us make mistakes, and the wisdom from these mistakes is often more valuable than advice from the supersuccessful."

Publications

* ''The Book of Mistakes. 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future''. ashville Center Street, 2018.

References

External links

* *
'ALA 2017 Spotlight: Four Questions with Skip Prichard'. In: ''Publishers Weekly'', 17 June 2017
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prichard, Skip 1960s births Living people OCLC people Towson University alumni University of Baltimore School of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)