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OAH selects new executive director

It is my great pleasure to inform you that the OAH has a new Executive Director. After an extensive process that resulted in 54 applications, Katherine (Kathy) Finley has been selected by the OAH Executive Board at its Fall board meeting.

Kathy holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history, and has served history museums and associations. In addition to her passion for history, she is also a trained and seasoned nonprofit executive whose experience and talents will help us achieve the ambitious goals of the recently adopted Strategic Plan (look for more on the Strategic Plan to follow in a subsequent e-mail).

Kathy will be coming to us from her current position of Executive Director of the Real Estate Investment Securities Association and the TICA Foundation in Indianapolis. Previous experiences have been as Director of the American College of Sports Medicine Foundation and senior executive team leader for Advancement, Education and Meetings for the American College of Sports Medicine; Executive Director of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and Associate Faculty in Philanthropic Studies at IUPUI; and Executive Director of Roller Skating Association International and the Roller Skating Foundation.

Kathy's start date will be March 1, 2010 so that she can become acclimated to the organization in advance of the 2010 OAH Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 7-10. (Reminder: Early preregistration is now available! Visit <http://meetings.oah.org/>;.) Katha Kissman, our Interim Executive Director, will serve in a transition capacity through the Annual Meeting and thereafter as may be needed.

I speak for all of us on the Executive Board that we look forward to working with Kathy and are confident that under her and our Executive Editor, Ed Linenthal's co-leadership in combination with our dedicated staff, the OAH has a bright future ahead.

Sincerely,

Elaine Tyler May
OAH President