Home

Donate Sign Up For News

Explore Section

Our Staff & Board

Meet the dynamic group of people responsible for championing the humanities throughout Maryland!

Our Staff

Judy D. Dobbs
Program Officer
Chautauqua & Maryland History Day
(410) 685-4185
Email

Eden Etzel
Program Assistant
Maryland Center for the Book
(410) 685-3715
Email

Marilyn Hatza
Program Officer
Grants & Strategic Partnerships
(410) 685-4187
Email

Aaron Heinsman
Director of Advancement
(410) 685-4183
Email

Anna Keneda
Program Assistant
Maryland History Day, Chautauqua, Veterans’ Programs
(410) 685-0452
Email

Kelly King
Grants Specialist
(410) 685-1653
Email

Jim Kitterman
Fiscal Officer
(410) 685-4182
Email

Mike Kuethe
Maryland History Day Outreach Assistant
Email

Grace Leatherman
Maryland History Day Outreach Coordinator
Email

Andrea Lewis
Program Officer
Maryland Center for the Book
(410) 685-6161
Email

Susan Millard
Office Manager
(410) 685-4184
Email

Phoebe Stein
Executive Director
(410) 685-0095
Email

Sarah Weissman
Communications Specialist
(410) 685-4186
Email

Theresa Worden
Program Coordinator
Grants & Museum on Main Street
(410) 685-0303
Email

MHC Board Members

Our Board

Cynthia Raposo, Chair
Montgomery County

Keith Stone, Vice Chair
Baltimore City

Silvia Golombek, Secretary
Baltimore County

Joseph (Joe) Wood, Treasurer
Baltimore City

Ronald (Pete) Lesher, Jr.*,
Government Liaison
Talbot County

Allyson Black
Anne Arundel County

Elizabeth (Liz) Cannon
Frederick County

James (Jim) Cornelsen
Charles County

Rhonda Dallas*
Prince George’s County

Albert (Al) Feldstein
Allegany County

Mary Kay Finan
Allegany County

Douglas (Doug) Greenberg
Baltimore City

Mary Hastler*
Harford County

Mark Irwin
Montgomery County

Lisa Jablonover
Howard County

Julia (Julie) Madden*
Howard County

Tiffany McGhee
Baltimore County

Heather Mitchell
Baltimore County

Adrianne Noe
Montgomery County

Maarten L. Pereboom
Wicomico County

Gale Rasin
Kent County

Thomas (Tom) B. Riford
Washington County

Nancy Rogers
Montgomery County

Stephen J. Sfekas
Baltimore City

Guffrie M. Smith, Jr.
Calvert County

Lindsay Thompson
Baltimore City

*Gubernatorial appointee

“MHD illustrated the applicability of the study of history to contemporary issues and current events. It was very motivating to converse with the students about their historical topic and observe how they applied it to current events and their own life circumstances.”

Maryland History Day parent
“Although “Fences” are down, the reverberations of our initiative are still resonating. The web of collaboration is clearly active. Many “reached across the fence.” Our community is all the stronger for it. The exhibition boasts the largest attendance of any seven week display on campus with a visitor count of over 1,050. Add to that the rich programming amounting to over 25 events which saw attendance again well over 1,000 participants. What is remarkable is the cross section of interest groups and individuals who attended from the three-county area of southern Maryland and beyond. In essence, the rich mosaic that formed attracted a broad range of people and opened a rare exchange of ideas. We witnessed epiphanies!”

Mary Braun ~ Director of the Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD Host Site, Museum on Main Street
“I work in billing. I think the program has helped me to see that people come from all walks of life and the responses they have to problems with all aspects of health care are influenced by that. I am more willing to listen to them.”

Literature & Medicine participant
“Maryland History Day challenged my daughter to go deeper, deeper in research analysis and presentation. It took her to a whole new level academically.”

Maryland History Day parent
“I had never done anything like this before so it was a totally new experience to write a paper, be interviewed, and defend my positions. I now really know how to do research and it has improved my writing skills.”

Maryland History Day 2015 Student
“My students have been removed from their home schools. Right away, they made comments about the diction of the text, how it seemed realistic to them and they pointed out words they would have changed. We talked about word choice, slang, etc. I had 2 instances where students were excited to see me because they had events similar to the book happen to them and they needed to tell someone. They want to know how to change things. […] These kids typically failed English class or were chronic non-attenders or were removed before they came here. They are excited about reading a book! Teacher librarian win!”

One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher
I just wanted to tell you, I really enjoyed the visit…Your students were wonderful and the questions were fair and good. I enjoyed the experience and hope it will helpful to your classroom experience…I like it when students ask questions on things they may have wondered about. Again it was a wonderful experience with your students and a great project for them. To see and talk to real Vietnam vets is important to get real stories…it is a really worthwhile experience for the students “as well” as us Vietnam vets.

Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, veteran participant
In history class you always read books written by people who didn’t experience it so it was nice to get an actual view on it. It was different because you got actual stories from history that many people don’t learn. I would like to thank you for giving me this experience in my freshman year.

Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, student participant
“We have truly enjoyed every funding experience with Maryland Humanities – mostly because it feels like a collaborative relationship. The staff at (Maryland Humanities) is very helpful when preparing grant proposals and reports, and we love seeing (Maryland Humanities) administrators attending our performances and other programming.”

Center Stage, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee, Baltimore City
“I feel very proud and happy that I did this, it motivates me to learn more about history. My opinion of history has changed. It made me more motivated to learn about history and it seems much more interesting now.”

Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, student participant
“Besides giving my students a relaxed writing situation with a non-threatening prompt (a personal letter, after all), your program challenges students to think ‘outside the box.'”

Letters About Literature teacher
“It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project. The grant was crucial to the success of the project, and instrumental in bringing the poet (and 2016 MacArthur Fellow) Claudia Rankine to our campus. As the author of “Citizen: An America Lyric,” Rankine’s powerful reading and discussion of her work provided the anchor for our programming about public education and the role it plays in shaping the political citizen… (Maryland Humanities staff) were a constant source of encouragement and support–and we are proud to have been one of the projects that it recognized this year.”

Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park
“I completed the book club with 22 students, all of them on the JV football team – so not your stereotypical group of book club attendees. On the last day of our book club experience I asked students for some feedback and also asked if they would be interested in participating in another book club. Nearly all of them said that this was the first time they had ever participated in a book club, and a few said it was the first time they had actually read an entire book. I keep hearing back from them, too, [asking] ‘When is the next book club starting up?’. The discussions we had were powerful and meaningful–this was truly one of the most moving experiences I have had as an educator.”

One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher
“The school I am reporting on is designed as an alternative center for students who are not successful in the “regular” classrooms in our district. These students are challenged by a number of factors, including emotional problems, discipline issues, etc. This particular book was one that a number of students were able to relate to and engage with. As a consequence, students who do not normally read became active participants in both reading and discussing!”

One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher
“The thing that had the most impact were the skills that I got from this project. I developed better hunting skills in terms of looking for reliable sources and I also learned to work hard and not procrastinate to achieve something great.”

Maryland History Day student participant

Share your feedback