Celebrating Outstanding Leadership: John Chodacki Receives DataCite's Distinguished Service Award

We are honored to announce that John Chodacki (University of California Office of the President) has been awarded the DataCite Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his extraordinary leadership and dedication to advancing open research and strengthening global research infrastructure.

John served as President of the DataCite Board from 2018 to 2025 and has been a long-standing community leader whose contributions have profoundly shaped the direction and success of DataCite. Under his leadership, DataCite experienced critical growth, deepened community engagement, and made significant strides in its mission to enable open, interoperable, and sustainable scholarly infrastructure.

Throughout his tenure on the DataCite Board, John has been a tireless advocate for open research, driving strategic guidance and fostering cross-community collaboration. His efforts have played a central role in enhancing DataCite's sustainability through successful fundraising and partnership development. Beyond his formal roles, John consistently went above and beyond—offering in-kind support, engaging deeply in strategy and innovation, and building an inclusive, scalable, and globally engaged community.

John's ability to inspire others and unite stakeholders around a shared vision has been instrumental in securing DataCite's place at the heart of the global open infrastructure ecosystem. His thoughtful, collaborative approach exemplifies the values of the Distinguished Service Award.

As part of this announcement, the DataCite Board marks the formalization of a new way for DataCite to recognize exceptional individuals who make lasting contributions to our mission. The Distinguished Service Award is not intended to be given annually, but rather selectively, when an individual's dedication significantly furthers DataCite's goals.

We extend our deepest gratitude to John for his outstanding service, and we are proud to recognize his achievements with this award.