Honoring the People Who Serve the Community

Letter from the Executive Director, September 2026

For some time, I have been mulling over what should be the topic for this particular month’s newsletter introduction. Last month, the post focused on the many successes NISO has had organizationally and some things I have come to learn over the years about the process of reaching consensus. This month the plan was to look forward, together with the NISO Board of Directors, as we put together our next strategic plan and consider the significant work before us as we adapt to the implications of artificial intelligence tools. Life, of course, has a way of reshuffling our plans. 

The single most important part of any community is its people. Whenever we speak of NISO initiatives or NISO standard, it is crucial to remember the people behind them. No one person, be it the chair of the group, a NISO staff member, a committee leader or a board member is individually responsible. It is always a group effort. There are the Working Group members, the people who comment on public drafts, or the many NISO members who vote and critique efforts during the consideration processes; there are the leadership committees, the staff, and the Board of Directors, each of whom plays an important role in bringing these consensus outputs to reality. Once finalized there are the hundreds and thousands of companies and libraries and all their staff who do the work to adopt the guidance that NISO advances. Every one of them plays a critical role in the process of standardization.

While this is foundational, there are also singular people who play an outsized role in the process. People who go above and beyond and are always willing to do one more thing, or serve on one more group, or make one more editorial pass over a document.  Sadly, last month we lost another leader in our community who was like that. Johnathan Clark, who served our community with distinction passed away suddenly on August 11, 2026. Johnathan was Managing Agent of the DOI Foundation and had just finished serving NISO community as our Chair, transitioning to the role of Past Chair in July. Johnathan served our community in a variety of ways, not just on our board. He was an active member of several NISO Working Groups and board committees and engaged regularly in NISO events. Outside of NISO, Jonathan was a leading expert in the world of persistent identifiers. He had a tremendous impact on the growing worldwide community of implementers of the DOI system not only in scholarly communications, but also in areas as diverse as mass media content, talent representation, and construction materials. He contributed on several ISO committees working toward international standardization. Johnathan was always thoughtful in his contributions and jovial in his moods, regardless of how complex or tense the situation was. He always sought a path towards compromise and was mindful of bringing everyone along with him on that journey. 

Despite his leadership role, in so many respects Johnathan sought to draw attention to the work rather than himself. Despite my eulogizing him, I expect he would prefer that we highlight the many things that he was involved in and their progress. As a member of the board, Jonathan was involved in the creation of NISO’s last strategic plan and was a member of the committee drafting our next. The NISO board will be meeting at the end of September with an aim towards advancing work on our next plan. Johnathan was an active member of the planning committee for our annual conference events and even moderated our 2023 program. He was planning to participate in our upcoming virtual conference, NISO Plus Global/Online, despite running his own board meeting earlier that day in Europe. He also served as an active member on several Working Group groups, most recently on the US National PID Strategy initiative. That project is nearing completion of a draft for public comment that will be circulated this fall. He had been involved in the PIDapaloza and PIDfest events that celebrate and advance the conversations around persistent identifiers. In many ways, the best way to honor Johnathan’s career and legacy is to continue to advance and support the work he dedicated himself to.

NISO will be recognizing Johnathan and his impact during an open session at the NISO Plus Global/Online event on Wednesday, September 17 at 11:00 am EST. While part of the conference program, this session will be openly available. We will honor him and his impact but also talk about some of the projects he was involved in most recently. Check our upcoming events page for registration information, which will be announced soon.

Sadly, over the course of a two decades leading a community organization, Jonathan’s loss is not the first. We have lost many community leaders who have engaged in our work. Some of them, like Jonathan, had their lives cut short suddenly while still in their prime. Others were lost after retirement from active work. Jonathan’s abrupt death has caused me to reflect on those many friends and colleagues we’ve lost, and whose impact we still feel. In reflecting on Jonathan’s contributions, we should also honor each of them and again thank them for all they did for us while they were here.

Our thoughts go out to Johnathan’s friends and family and all those whom he touched. I’m also thinking of all those we’ve lost within the vast community we serve. Life is far too short and the best we can do is serve those around us and try as best we can to improve their condition, not just our own. This is what Johnathan did as well as so many who preceded him. We should all be grateful for what they’ve done for us. 

Sincerely,

Todd Carpenter

Executive Director, NISO