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Staff Biographies
MICHAEL L. GILLETTE, Executive Director, joined Humanities Texas in June 2003. Prior to his appointment, he held the position of Director of the Center for Legislative Archives, with responsibility for the official records of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC. In addition to the Archives position, which he held since 1991, Gillette also served as liaison to the Foundation for the National Archives from its creation in 1992 until 1997. He received a B.A. in government and a Ph.D. in history from The University of Texas at Austin.
After joining the staff of the LBJ Library in 1972, he directed the Library’s Oral History Program from 1976 to 1991. He also directed the President Election Research Project at the LBJ School of Public Affairs from 1988 to 1991. He was a member of the board of directors of the Everett Dirksen Congressional Leadership Center from 1993 until 1999. He has also served on the advisory board of the Law Library of Congress’s National Digital Library Program and currently serves on the advisory board of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at Ohio State University and the Board of Visitors of Southwestern University. Gillette is the author of Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History and editor of Texas in Transition, and Financing Presidential Campaigns, 1988 and 1992. He has also published numerous articles on politics and civil rights and has been an active member of the oral history profession.
JULIA AGUILAR, Program Officer, joined Humanities Texas in August 2003. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in the Plan II Honors Program and a B.S. in advertising, with a minor in business. She entered UT as a Minnie Stevens Piper Scholar and a National Hispanic Scholar. While a student at UT, she worked for the Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Jim Vick. During her four years with the Student Affairs office, she assisted with the UT Parents’ Association during meetings of the advisory board, managed their database of members, and recruited new members during summer orientation. She also supported cultural groups in the Austin area by working for both Ballet Austin and the Austin Symphony and spent the summer of 2000 studying art, architecture, and classics abroad in Italy. She serves as principal assistant to Executive Director Michael Gillette, supporting activities of the board of directors, the capital campaign, and the development of promotional materials for council-conducted programs and events.
NAOMI BALDINGER , Editor & Executive Assistant, joined Humanities Texas in July 2009. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with degrees in Plan II Honors and French in 2005, and received her M.A. in Comparative Literature from UCLA in 2008. As a UT undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant and volunteered at the on-campus Women’s Resource Center. She spent her junior year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne Nouvelle and teaching English to elementary school students. In Los Angeles, she shared her passion for literature and writing with public school students through her work with 826LA, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center. She serves as an assistant to executive director Michael L. Gillette and is the editor for the organization’s electronic newsletter.
LIZ BOHMAN BARGER, Program Officer, joined Humanities Texas in September 2008. Originally from Austin, she attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in art history in May 2008. In spring 2008, Liz served as events administration assistant for Nashville Area Arts, a website designed to connect Nashville to the international contemporary visual art scene. As an undergraduate, she developed a passion for education through her involvement with ArtReach, a program designed to bring art and education programs to the underprivileged Nashville community. Liz supports both the Humanities Texas exhibitions and education programs and coordinates the Outstanding Teaching Awards.
MEGHAN CHANEY, Administrative Assistant, joined Humanities Texas full-time in September 2004. She grew up in Austin and attended Texas State University. She has worked previously as an office manager and accounts payable and receivable officer at various companies, including 10X Contracting, Spectrum Drywall, and Stipco Construction.
BROOK DAVIS, Grants Program Officer, holds a B.A. in history and political science from Texas State University-San Marcos. She joined Humanities Texas in September 2002 as an intern and in January 2003 was hired as a full-time administrative assistant. In January 2004 she was promoted to grants program officer and now supports the administration of Humanities Texas's grants program. She maintains the grants database system, tracks grant-funded programs, compiles program-related statistics, and assists Texas-based nonprofit organizations in developing effective grant proposals.
YVONNE GONZÁLEZ, Deputy Director, joined Humanities Texas as fiscal officer in May 1988. She served as director of finance from 1995 until October 1999, at which time she was promoted to the position of associate director and chief financial officer. She served as interim executive director for Humanities Texas from April through July 2002. A Texas native from Brownsville, she worked previously as a fiscal officer and consultant for nonprofit organizations funded in part by city, state, and federal grants. From 1980 to 1985, she served as fiscal agent for two City of Austin social service and housing grant award recipients. She holds a B.L.S. degree in accounting from St. Edward's University in Austin. As deputy director of Humanities Texas, she is responsible for the organization's finances, auditing, human resources administration, grant report, and compliance.
SUSANNA HILL, Program Officer, joined Humanities Texas in January 2010. She attended the University of Virginia, where she received a B.A. with high distinction in interdisciplinary studies in 2001. In New York City, she worked as the production coordinator at Laumont Photographics, serving as a liaison between printers, retouchers, and framers, and the artists, galleries, and museums they serve. She also worked as a reprints coordinator at Scholastic, Inc., where she oversaw corrections to books from every imprint of the publishing house. She received her M.A. in art history from The University of Texas at Austin in 2008. A recipient of the University of Texas Press Fellowship, Susanna worked at the Press in acquisitions and copyediting, as well as rights and permissions, from 2008–2010. Susanna supports the Humanities Texas education programs.
MELISSA HUBER, Director of Exhibitions, joined Humanities Texas in December 2007. She holds a B.A. in art history from Arizona State University and an M.S. in historic preservation from The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Humanities Texas, she worked as an exhibitions technician at the Blanton Museum of Art and as a graduate research assistant in UT's Architectural Conservation Lab. Her combined focus on collections, exhibitions, and historic buildings developed in her previous role as conservation assistant for the Arizona State Museum Preservation Division at The University of Arizona in Tucson. Melissa oversees the traveling exhibitions program and serves as point-person for the Byrne-Reed House restoration project.
HENRY LEVINE, Exhibitions Technician, joined Humanities Texas in December 2009. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A in Fine Arts, and received his MFA in Fine Arts from Parsons The New School for Design in 1997. Prior to joining Humanities Texas, Henry worked as an exhibitions installer and carpenter for numerous museums and galleries such as The Solomon R. Guggenheim, PS1-Moma and The Jewish Museum in New York City. Currently, he is splitting his time between Humanities Texas and his own company, where he designs and builds furniture with an emphasis on sustainable materials and building practices.
ERIC LUPFER, Director of Grants and Education, holds a Ph.D. in English (2003) and an M.S. in Information Studies (2004) from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in English from Bowdoin College (1991). Before joining the staff of Humanities Texas in 2004, he worked at UT’s Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, where he codirected the center’s summer teacher institute. He has taught courses in literature and composition at both the high school and college levels. In the past several years, he has published articles and book reviews on American literature and publishing history, including an essay in the five-volume, collaborative scholarly work, A History of the Book in America.
LINDSEY WALL, Exhibitions Coordinator, is a native of Austin, Texas. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.A. in architecture. Prior to joining Humanities Texas in September of 2008, she worked as the curatorial assistant for the Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum and artists' residence program in Pittsburgh, PA. There she helped to coordinate the fabrication of exhibits and collaborated with artists, curators, staff, and contractors. She has also handled exhibits at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Wood Street Galleries. As exhibits coordinator, she manages the circulation of exhibitions and the promotion of related programs.