Timothy Barrett

Professor, Emeritus, UICB/School of Library and Information Sciences
Biography

Timothy Barrett is professor emeritus in the University of Iowa Center for the Book and the School of Library and Information Science.  He received a BA degree in Art Communications from Antioch College in 1973. His career includes two years at Twinrocker Handmade Paper, Inc. in Brookston, Indiana, two years under a Fulbright Fellowship studying papermaking in Japan, and two years of part time study at Western Michigan University’s Department of Paper Science and Engineering.  His many years of research on early European handmade papers were funded by the NEA, the Kress Foundation, the Institute for Museum and Library Services and in 2009, a MacArthur Fellowship. Barrett is author of three books, seven videotapes and 37 articles or book chapters on the history, technique and aesthetics of hand papermaking. He joined the University of Iowa Center for the Book in 1986 and oversaw the UICB paper facilities, paper research and production, and the papermaking curriculum. He was director of the Center between 1996 and 2002 and again became director between 2012 and the spring of 2020 when he retired. His primary research interests were Japanese papermaking, early European papermaking technology, the role of gelatin in paper permanence, and aesthetics in handmade paper. Specialized handmade papers produced by Barrett and his students were designed for use by fine press printers, book artists and conservators of rare books and works of art on paper.