David Ferriero

On January 13, 2022, Ferriero announced he would retire effective mid-April 2022 after a twelve-year tenure as Archivist of the United States. He urged President Biden to "not hire another white male" to replace him, and said that he chose to retire at that point so that Biden could be the one to name his replacement. Ferriero's retirement was effective on April 30, 2022, and Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall took over as acting Archivist of the United States.

In January 2020, Ferriero supported the Archives' decision to censor a photograph containing signs critical of President Trump and references to women's anatomy in an exhibit devoted to the centennial of women's suffrage in the United States. The Washington Post reported that Ferriero "participated in talks regarding the exhibit and supports the decision to edit the photo." The alteration of the image was immediately criticized by historians, with Douglas Brinkley saying "to confuse the public is reprehensible. The head of the Archives has to very quickly fix this damage." Subsequently, the National Archives issued an apology for the decision and promised to restore the original image and review its exhibit policies.

On July 28, 2009, President Obama nominated Ferriero to be 10th Archivist of the United States.

He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2009; he was sworn into his new office on November 13, 2009.

As part of his tenure at the National Archives, Ferriero took an active interest in working with Wikipedia, of which he has called himself "a huge fan." When questioned about the National Archives' engagement with Wikipedia, his response was "The Archives is involved with Wikipedia because that's where the people are." Under Ferriero's aegis, the National Archives worked with the Wikimedia Foundation since 2009, having had a Wikipedian in Residence and uploaded thousands of images to Wikimedia Commons. He quoted a blogger in saying: "If Wikipedia is good enough for the Archivist of the United States, maybe it should be good enough for you."

Ferriero was the Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries at the New York Public Library (NYPL) from 2004. In 2007 his role expanded with additional responsibilities as director of New York Public Library's Branch Libraries. He was responsible for the management and operations of NYPL's research libraries since 2005 and the branch libraries since 2007. He presided over a major restructuring, which was accompanied by elimination of some positions and the creation of new ones. Ferriero argued that transformation was imperative as NYPL adapted to the profound cultural and societal developments affecting the future of libraries.

Ferriero was the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and vice provost for library affairs at Duke University from 1996 through 2004. Ferriero was the first Duke university librarian to address the members of the university's Board of Trustees in person. He was actively involved in the evolution of North Carolina's Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).

David Sean Ferriero (/ˈfɛrioʊ/; born December 31, 1945) is an American librarian and library administrator, who served as the 10th Archivist of the United States. He previously served as the Director of the New York Public Library, and before that, the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. Prior to his Duke position, he worked for 31 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology library. Ferriero was the first librarian to serve as Archivist of the United States.