Donald A. Westbrook is a scholar, author, consultant, and information professional based in the Austin, Texas area.

Dr. Westbrook’s work bridges religious studies, library and information science, archives, historical research, digital scholarship, and public-facing writing. He holds a PhD in Religion from Claremont Graduate University, MLIS from San José State University, MA in Theology from Fuller Seminary, BA in Philosophy from UC Berkeley, and AA in Liberal Arts from Mt. San Jacinto College.

Dr. Westbrook currently teaches in the School of Information at San José State University, where he delivers graduate courses in applied research methods (historical research) and the history of libraries in the United States. He has also taught graduate courses in information studies at the University of Texas at Austin and previously taught religious studies at UCLA, the University of South Florida, California State University, Fullerton, and Fuller Seminary. He also held a postdoctoral research fellowship at San Diego State University.

His professional experience includes work in special collections and archives, digital library publishing, nonprofit leadership, project coordination, and research administration. Across academic and applied settings, his work has centered on careful research, historical interpretation, communication, knowledge organization, and public engagement.

In addition to his university teaching and scholarship, Dr. Westbrook is Principal of 2033 Consulting, LLC, where he offers consulting related to religious studies, minority religions, freedom of religion or belief, libraries, archives, data preservation, and information studies.

This site brings together several dimensions of his work: scholarship, books, consulting, teaching, and public engagement.

(Updated March 2026)