The policy board of the National History Education Network (NHEN) is pleased to announce that Loretta Lobes is the new director of NHEN. The board was impressed with Lobes's training, her ability to organize and absorb information quickly, and her enthusiastic commitment to the organization. The board looks forward to working with her. With Lobes's appointment, NHEN will officially move to its new office at Carnegie Mellon University under the auspices of the history department. Lobes succeeds Christine Compston, who resigned as director in June. The history department at Carnegie Mellon University has a long-standing commitment to excellence in teaching and a reputation for fostering dialogue and cooperation among history educators.

In accordance with its new mission statement, NHEN will fully merge with the History Teaching Alliance so that there will be one organization rather than two. What this amalgamation does is to bring to the same table (a) partnership programs (connecting K-12 and postsecondary teachers around the teaching of history) and (b) national organizations concerned with fostering high-quality, active learning in history. NHEN supports efforts to strengthen history teaching and learning in schools by disseminating information on state and school-district policies related to history education in schools; it also facilitates efforts to influence local or state policy making in areas related to history education. In addition, NHEN supports the professional development of history teachers in schools through collaborations with colleagues in colleges, universities, museums, archives and libraries, and historical societies.

The wide range of experience Lobes brings to the position should prove invaluable in addressing NHEN's goals. Lobes has focused her career on primary, secondary, and university education. She has taught first grade, high school social studies, and college history courses. This diverse teaching background makes her an excellent candidate to direct NHEN.

In May 1996 Lobes received her Ph.D. in American social history from Carnegie Mellon University. Her dissertation was entitled "Hearts All Aflame: Women in the Development of New Forms of Social Service Organizations, 1870-1930," She received a master of arts degree in American social history from Carnegie Mellon in 1991. As part of her training, she completed an internship project entitled "Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, A Case Study: African American Education in Alabama, 1880-1915." In 1987, before entering the Carnegie Mellon doctoral program, Lobes completed a master's in education, with a specialization in instruction and learning, at the University of Pittsburgh. Her master's research project, which was entitled "Social Studies as Reflective Inquiry," explored curriculum innovations that encouraged student development in the acquisition of higher-level critical thinking skills. As an undergraduate American history major at Marymount College, Lobes minored in secondary education and received a teacher certification from New York State for grades 7-12. She was a student teacher at Dobbs Ferry Public High School.

While pursuing her doctorate, Lobes taught two independent courses: Women in American History and 20th-Century America. In addition, she was a teaching assistant for world history courses. Lobes also held a number of administrative positions at Carnegie Mellon University. She served as the head teaching assistant for World History, a large lecture course with 300 students. She assisted with course organization, supervised and observed teaching assistants in their first collegiate teaching experience, analyzed videotaped classes, and evaluated instructional methods. In 1993-94, Lobes assisted the history major adviser by supervising student course selection, evaluating institutional exchange programs for transfer credit, and aiding students with preliminary grant applications. In 1991-92 and 1992-93, Lobes served as an adviser in the Academic Advisory Center in Carnegie Mellon's College of Humanities, where she assisted undeclared majors with their course selection and their general adjustment to academic life. Lobes looks forward to the support and assistance of AHA members.