Ken Thibodeau retires from electronic archive development

Digital archive expert Ken Thibodeau retired from the National Archives and Records Administration as of Jan. 1, where he was instrumental in developing electronic archiving techniques, standards and systems. His most recent position was director of NARA's Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies.

Thibodeau joined NARA in 1975 in the machine-readable archives division. He left to join the National Institutes of Health as records manager in 1978 and returned to NARA in 1989 as head of the new Center for Electronic Records, now named the Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division.

Thibodeau accepted a detail assignment with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he directed the development of the world’s first electronic records standard, DOD 5015.02, for records management software.

Thibodeau also led an advanced technology research program at NARA, which became the Center for Advanced Systems and Technologies, which he directed until his retirement. The program also sparked creating the Electronic Records Archive system in 2008.