Growing up, Diane Elizabeth Dixson lived all over the world with her father, who had to travel for his job with the State Department. She picked up a number of different languages along her journey, including German, French, and Russian, which proved to be a huge asset upon her return to the U.S. She joined the Library of Congress as an acquisition specialist, and the rest was history. She remained in that position with the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution for more than four decades, furthering their mission of being the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge and providing unparalleled resources to Congress and the American people.
One of the biggest milestones of Ms. Dixson’s career was creating subject tours for collections at the Library of Congress. She was one of four creators of the specialty tours for music and the performing arts, which she continues to lead to this day, and is currently a docent for the Thomas Jefferson, Lincoln, Civil Rights, Civil War, and World War II tours, as well as the regular building tour. Ms. Dixson is constantly working to improve her language skills to enhance the experience of foreign tourists who come to the library.
Another role Ms. Dixson held during her time in the field was chairman of the supervisory committee at the Library of Congress Federal Credit Union from 1982 to 1990. She won a number of credit union service awards, including the Edward A. Filene Award from the Credit Union National Association and the Credit Anion Achievement Award.
Ms. Dixson prepared for her professional journey by graduating from Financial Management School in 2002 and by earning both a Bachelor of Art in English and a Bachelor of Arts in German from George Mason University in 1978. Notably, in high school, she was ranked among the top 2 percent in the country for her language and Latin ability.
As a testament to her success and longevity, Ms. Dixson was featured in Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in the East, as well as in numerous editions of Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who of American Women. She also received first place in photography at the employees’ art show in 2016. If she could offer some advice to the younger generations, it would be to become competitive by earning professional designations.
When Ms. Dixson has spare time, she enjoys travel, classical music, tennis, and going to the beach.