diff --git a/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R b/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
index 38dd3ce48..27397e7cb 100644
--- a/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
+++ b/crates/ark/src/modules/positron/packages_pane.R
@@ -8,6 +8,49 @@
 # This file contains RPC functions for the packages pane.
 # These functions are called via callMethod from the Positron R extension.
 
+# Normalize a DESCRIPTION field value for display: collapse whitespace/newlines
+# into single spaces so a multi-line Description fits on one line in the UI.
+.ps.pkg_description_text <- function(value) {
+    if (is.null(value) || is.na(value)) {
+        return("")
+    }
+    value <- as.character(value)
+    value <- gsub("\\s+", " ", value, perl = TRUE)
+    trimws(value)
+}
+
+# Normalize a Maintainer/Author value for display: collapse whitespace and strip
+# trailing email addresses in angle brackets (e.g., "Hadley Wickham <h@posit.co>"
+# becomes "Hadley Wickham").
+.ps.pkg_author_text <- function(value) {
+    if (is.null(value) || is.na(value)) {
+        return("")
+    }
+    value <- as.character(value)
+    value <- gsub("\\s+", " ", value, perl = TRUE)
+    value <- gsub("\\s*<[^>]+>", "", value, perl = TRUE)
+    trimws(value)
+}
+
+# Build the package list via utils::installed.packages(), optionally scoped to a
+# specific library path (used by the renv method).
+.ps.pkg_list_installed <- function(lib.loc = NULL) {
+    ip <- utils::installed.packages(
+        lib.loc = lib.loc,
+        fields = c("Description", "Maintainer")
+    )
+    lapply(seq_len(nrow(ip)), function(i) {
+        list(
+            id = paste0(ip[i, "Package"], "-", ip[i, "Version"]),
+            name = ip[i, "Package"],
+            displayName = ip[i, "Package"],
+            version = ip[i, "Version"],
+            description = .ps.pkg_description_text(ip[i, "Description"]),
+            author = .ps.pkg_author_text(ip[i, "Maintainer"])
+        )
+    })
+}
+
 # Return a list of installed packages
 #' @export
 .ps.rpc.pkg_list <- function(method = c("pak", "base", "renv")) {
@@ -23,32 +66,16 @@
                     id = paste0(pkgs$package[[i]], "-", pkgs$version[[i]]),
                     name = pkgs$package[[i]],
                     displayName = pkgs$package[[i]],
-                    version = as.character(pkgs$version[[i]])
+                    version = as.character(pkgs$version[[i]]),
+                    description = .ps.pkg_description_text(pkgs$description[[
+                        i
+                    ]]),
+                    author = .ps.pkg_author_text(pkgs$maintainer[[i]])
                 )
             })
         },
-        base = {
-            ip <- utils::installed.packages()
-            lapply(seq_len(nrow(ip)), function(i) {
-                list(
-                    id = paste0(ip[i, "Package"], "-", ip[i, "Version"]),
-                    name = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    displayName = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    version = ip[i, "Version"]
-                )
-            })
-        },
-        renv = {
-            ip <- utils::installed.packages(lib.loc = renv::paths$library())
-            lapply(seq_len(nrow(ip)), function(i) {
-                list(
-                    id = paste0(ip[i, "Package"], "-", ip[i, "Version"]),
-                    name = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    displayName = ip[i, "Package"],
-                    version = ip[i, "Version"]
-                )
-            })
-        }
+        base = .ps.pkg_list_installed(),
+        renv = .ps.pkg_list_installed(lib.loc = renv::paths$library())
     )
 }