Terry Birdwhistell, an associate dean for the University of Kentucky Libraries' Special Collections and Digital Programs, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress. Birdwhistell was nominated for the appointment by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.

The Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress was established in 1990 to advise Congress and the Archivist of the United States on the management and preservation of the records of Congress. The committee is comprised of congressional officials responsible for its records, the archivist of the United States, and House and Senate-appointed public members of the committee. Public members represent historians, political scientists, congressional archivists and other users/caretakers of legislative records.

"Dr. Birdwhistell’s appointment is recognition of his stature in the field of archives, public policy and oral history," said Carol Pitts Diedrichs, dean of UK Libraries. "In this role, his expertise will be applied to the important records of our nation."  

Birdwhistell is a noted oral historian. As an associate dean at UK, he is credited with building the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History into one of the nation's top programs. He is a past-president of the national Oral History Association and is co-general editor, along with James C. Klotter, of “Kentucky Remembered,” an oral history series published by the University Press of Kentucky.

Birdwhistell, who earned two master’s degrees in history and library and information science, as well as a doctorate in educational policy studies from UK, is a current member of Kentucky's State Archives and Records Commission.  He was inducted in to the UK College of Education Hall of Fame in 2006.