Kudos for Fall 2026

Kudos to….  Henrike Florusbosch (MSP03) was named as the new chief administrator at the UM Kelsey Museum of Archaeology.  After teaching anthropology at Leiden University in the Netherlands, Henrike returned to U-M to manage the African Studies Center within the International Institute, before joining the e-Health and Artificial Intelligence program (e-HAIL). She currently serves as a co-lead of the staff-led Grant Development Network and previously supported the e-Health and GenAI-research task forces in the Medical School’s Office of Research.

Kudos to… Medha Tare (MSP04), head of research at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the Sesame Workshop Fellows, who recently published children’s museums case studies. These studies focused on how different facets of well-being (such as creativity, autonomy, and connection) can be creatively incorporated into museum exhibit designs through phygital elements.

Kudos to…  KeunYoung Kim (MSP06) who began a position as Deputy Director at the Old Korean Legation Museum in Logan Circle, Washington D.C.

Kudos to… Alison Rivett (MSP06) who was recently promoted to the Director of Operations at the University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative.

Kudos to… Ana Silva Campo (MSP12), Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on her new book “The Inquisition’s Gambit: Making Wealth and Race in Cartagena de Indias” (University of Pennsylvania Press, October 2026).

Kudos to… Lauren Stamm Brady (MSP16) who was recently promoted from Reference Archivist to Manager of Reference Services at The Henry Ford (Dearborn, MI).

Kudos to….  Zach Kopin (MSP16) who just began a postdoc position in the Digital History Center at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.

Kudos to…  Alexandra Norwood (MSP18), now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Utah, and UMMAA curator Brian Stewart for publishing an article in Quaternary Science Reviews.  The article presents a novel application of generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to carbon isotopes of faunal tooth enamel to better resolve the climate dynamics associated with the transition from the Middle to Later Stone Age in southern Africa.

Kudos to… Andrew Crocker (MSP19) who completed his PhD and has started a tenure track position in Art History and Museum Studies at Florida Southern College.

Kudos to… Comfort Mtotha (MSP19) who recently began a new position as Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Texas State University. Comfort’s dissertation, Collecting Malawi: Museums, Histories, and Politics, 1875–Present, was honored with the 2026 Arthur Fondiler Prize, awarded annually for the best doctoral dissertation in the Department of History at the University of Michigan.

Kudos to… Heidi Hilliker (MSP20) who completed her PhD, contributed to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology’s new exhibit, “The Byzantine and Islamic Worlds: 400–1800,” and has started a new position as the Wieler-Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in Ancient Mediterranean Art at The Walters Art Museum.

Kudos to… Veronica Cook Williamson (MSP20) who defended her dissertation in May and has accepted an Assistant Professor position in German and Global Studies at the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts.

Kudos to…  Basmah Arshad (MSP22) who recently published an article, “If Not Now, When?: The Arab American National Museum During the Post-9/11 Era and Afterward.”  Basmah discusses the importance of this museum in Dearborn, MI in post-9/11 America.

Kudos to… Hayley Crowell (MSP22) who recently begun a postdoc in biology research at San Diego State University.

Kudos to… Charlotte Juergens (MSP22) on her new position as the Director of Public History for Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Green-Wood is a public humanities institution that hosts archive and book talks, film series, concerts, etc. and has an arboretum and a large archive. This role is a wonderful opportunity to shape public history storytelling and programming in Charlotte’s hometown.

Kudos to…  Abigail Staub (MSP22) successfully defended her dissertation “Power in the ‘Pistrinum’: A Vernacular Approach to Amuletic and Apotropaic Risk Management Strategies in Roman Imperial Baking Contexts” in May and has started a new position as the Assistant to the Director at the Fralin Museum of Art (Charlottesville, VA).

Kudos to… Irma Guzman (MSP23) who recently began a new position as History Specialist for the PNH Project at the Michigan History Center.  Irma’s work focuses on preserving Michigan’s Latino/x history.

Kudos to… Briana Kemmerling (MSP23) began a position as Technical Services Librarian at The Henry Ford.

Kudos to… Skyler Leslie (MSP23) began a new position as the Museum Events and Operations Coordinator at the University of Michigan’s Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory. Welcome back to campus, Skyler!

Kudos to… Adeline Hennebury (MSP26) was recently a Junior Fellow at the Law Library at the Library of Congress. In this role, she completed descriptive cataloguing of 17th and 18th century French royal edicts.