Miriam Nisbet

Miriam Nisbet was the founding director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Created in 2007, OGIS is the federal FOIA ombudsman office, charged with providing mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and federal agencies and with improving FOIA administration. In addition to establishing OGIS, Nisbet represented the National Archives at the Administrative Conference of the United States; the International Council on Archives; the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions; the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO; and the International Conference of Information Commissioners.

Nisbet was chair of the FOIA Advisory Committee, established in 2014 as a government commitment under the National Action Plan for the Open Government Partnership. She retired from NARA in November 2014. She previously served at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris as director of the Information Society Division; from 1999 to 2007 as legislative counsel for the American Library Association. Nisbet was special counsel for Information Policy, National Archives and Records Administration, from 1994 to 1999. Prior to joining the Archives, Nisbet served since 1982 as deputy director, Office of Information and

Privacy, U.S. Department of Justice.

Nisbet received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. degree from the University’s School of Law. She is a member of the District of Columbia and North Carolina bars. Nisbet was elected in 2005 as a member of the American Law Institute. She received the Sunshine in Government Award in 2014 and the American Society of Access Professionals President’s Award for Distinguished Public Service in 2013. She taught as an adjunct lecturer, 2013 to 2014, at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies.