Steve Hensen received a BA in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
1967, and an MA in library science from the same institution in 1971. His first
professional archival position was with Yale Library's Manuscripts and Archives
Department as an archivist and manuscript cataloger. He joined the staff of the
Library of Congress in 1976 where he worked in the Manuscript Department. During his
time there, Hensen contributed to the revision of the MARC cataloging formats and
the creation of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules,
second edition (AACR2).
In 1986 Hensen began working at Duke University in both the Archives and the Rare
Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library in various capacities. He played a
leading role in some of Duke's early digitization projects, and developed many
grant-funded projects. Hensen retired from Duke University in 2010.
Throughout his career, Hensen was a strong contributor to the Society of American
Archivists (SAA). He served in various leadership roles, including as chair of the
Nominating Committee (1990), a member of Council (1994-1997), and vice-president
(2000-2001) and president (2001-2002). He also attended and gave presentations at
many annual meetings and led a variety of SAA workshops.
