A little-known aspect of my job as executive director of the AHA is among the most useful and enjoyable: participation in the Conference of Executive Officers of the American Council of Learned Societies. This might sound rather bureaucratic and more than a bit anachronistic. But it is neither. The 81 ACLS executive directors (or the equivalent) communicate, consult, collaborate, and more. Both AHA staff and Council know I can quickly find out what our peer scholarly associations are doing or thinking about issues in which we are engaged. That I can get advice, or test out ideas. The group maintains an extraordinary amount of trust, which enable that advice and those ideas to be honest and when necessary tentative or even critical. We meet in person, through email, and on Zoom.
In that spirit, I introduce one of colleagues from among that group: Lisa Fagin Davis, executive director of the Medieval Academy of America and a member of the AHA. Lisa is the subject of an extraordinary profile in the September issue of The Atlantic. The article reminds us that everything has a history, and there are many ways of being a historian.