THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release December 29, 2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES TEN MEMBERS
TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE HUMANITIES
President Clinton today announced the recess appointments of Nina
Archabal, Betty Bengtson, Ron Chew, Bill Duke, Donald Fixico, Henry
Glassie, Mary Hubbard, Naomi Shihab Nye, Vicki Ruiz and Isabel Stewart as
members of the National Council on the Humanities.
Dr. Nina M. Archabal, of St. Paul, Minnesota, has been with the
Minnesota Historical Society since 1977, and has served as its Director and
State Historic Preservation Officer since 1987. She is currently on the
Board of Overseers of Harvard College, is a former Chair of the American
Association of Museums and was a member of the Board of Directors of the
American Folklife Center. In 1997, President Clinton awarded Dr. Archabal
the National Humanities Medal. Dr. Archabal received a B.A. from Radcliffe
College, a M.A.T. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University
of Minnesota.
Ms. Betty G. Bengtson, of Seattle, Washington, has held the post of
Director of University Libraries at the University of Washington since
1990. Previously, she was associated with the libraries at the University
of Tennessee and Georgetown University. Additionally, Ms. Bengtson has
served in a number of capacities with the Library and Information
Technology Association, the Washington Library Association, the Council on
Library and Information Resources and the Association of Research
Libraries, to include serving as President of the latter group 1998-99.
Ms. Benstson received a Bachelor?s Degree from Duke University, and
Master?s Degrees from Catholic University of America and the University of
Maryland.
Mr. Ron Chew, of Seattle, Washington, has been Executive Director of
the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle since 1991. Earlier, he served as
Administrative Coordinator of the Washington State Commission on Asian
Pacific American Affairs. While at Wing Luke Museum, Mr. Chew has been
Exhibition Writer for a number of museum projects, including ?Renewal of
America: Voices of Recent Asian Pacific Immigrants? and ?20 Years After the
Fall of Saigon: The Vietnamese American Story?. He is also a Board Member
of the Seattle Public Library Foundation and serves on the Advisory Board
of the Museum Loan Network. Mr. Chew has received a number of awards,
including the Governor?s Heritage Award from the Washington State Arts
Commission and the Distinguished Service Award from the National
Association of Asian American Studies. Mr. Chew studied Editorial
Journalism at the University of Washington School of Communications.
Mr. Bill Duke, of Washington, DC, is Chairman of Film Studies at
Howard University and is both a distinguished film director and actor.
Among his feature film directing credits are ?Hoodlum?, ?The Boy Who
Painted Christ Black? and ?Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit?. His primetime
television direction credits include: ?Raisin in the Sun?, ?The Outsider?,
?Hill Street Blues? and ?Fame?. As an actor he has appeared in ?Payback?,
?Bird on a Wire? and ?American Gigolo?. In addition to his work at Howard
University, he has also taught and lectured at numerous universities
including Colorado College, Boston University and Lincoln University. Mr.
Duke has received several awards, including Special Recognition for
?Hoodlum? from Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees and the Drum Major for
Justice Film Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Mr.
Duke received a B.A. from Boston University, and M.F.A. degrees from New
York University and the American Film Institute.
Dr. Donald L. Fixico, of Baldwin City, Kansas, is Professor of History
and Director of the Indigenous Nations Studies Graduate Program at the
University of Kansas. He has also served as an Exchange Professor at
universities in England and Germany. Among his publications are three
books, Termination and Relocation: Federal Indian Policy, 1945-1960, Urban
Indians, and The Invasion of Indian Country in the Twentieth Century:
American Capitalism and Tribal Natural Resources. A number of other works
are in progress, including The Urban Indian Experience in America scheduled
for publication this October. Dr. Fixico received a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D.
from the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Henry Glassie, of Bloomington, Indiana, has served as College
Professor of Folklore and Co-Director, Turkish Studies at Indiana
University since 1988. Earlier, he was Chair of the Department of Folklore
and Folklife and Professor of Folklore and American Civilization at the
University of Pennsylvania. He served as President of the American
Folklore Society from 1988-1990. Dr. Glassie is widely published and among
his recent books are Irish Folktales, The Spirit of Folk Art, Turkish
Traditional Art Today, The Potter?s Art and Art and Life in Bangladesh.
For this latter work he received the Certificate of Honor from the Ministry
of Cultural Affairs of the People?s Republic of Bangladesh. He received a
B.A. from Tulane University, an M.A. from the State University of New York
at Oneonta and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Mary D. Hubbard, of Birmingham, Alabama, is currently an English
teacher at Mountain Brook High School. Last year she received the biennial
?Teacher of Merit Award? from the Alabama Association of Historians. She
is a member of the Alabama Council of Teachers of English, the National
Council for Social Studies Teachers, the Alabama Association of Historians
and the National Council for History Education. She received a B.A. in
English and History from Washington University, St. Louis and an M.A. in
Gifted Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Ms. Naomi Shihab Nye, of San Antonio, Texas, is a poet, essayist,
anthologist and author of children?s books. Among her books of poems are
Hugging the Jukebox, Red Suitcase and Fuel. Her books for young readers
include Habibi and Sitti?s Secrets. She has traveled to the Middle East
and Asia for the United States Information Agency promoting international
goodwill through the arts. Ms. Nye has received numerous awards for her
work including the Award for Contribution to Literature at the
American-Arab Convention on Anti-Discrimination, four Pushcart Prizes, two
Jane Adams Children?s Book Awards and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work
has also been featured on PBS?s ?The Language of Life with Bill Moyers? and
National Public Radio?s All Things Considered. She received her B.A. from
Trinity University in San Antonio.
Dr. Vicki L. Ruiz, of Tempe, Arizona, is Professor of History and
Chicana/Chicano Studies and Chair of the Department of Chicana/Chicano
Studies at Arizona State University. She is widely published and among her
books are Cannery Women, Cannery Lives: Mexican Women, Unionization and the
California Food Processing Industry, 1930-1950 and From Out of the Shadows:
Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America. For this latter work she
received an award as the Outstanding Academic Book of 1998 from the
American Library Association. Dr. Ruiz is a member of the national
advisory boards of The Museum of Women- The Leadership Center, New York the
National Women?s History Project and the American Historical Association.
She received a B.S from Florida State University and an A.M. and a Ph.D.
from Stanford University.
Ms. Isabel Carter Stewart, of Chicago, Illinois, served as the
National Executive Director of Girls Incorporated from 1991-2000. Ms.
Stewart has served on the boards of the Museum of Modern Art, National
Assembly of Voluntary Organizations, National Campaign to Prevent Teen
Pregnancy and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. She also serves on
the Harvard Business School Strategic Planning in Nonprofit Management
Advisory Committee, and participates in the International Women?s Forum,
the Women?s Foreign Policy Group and the Wellesley College Business
Leadership Council. Ms. Stewart received a B.A. from Wellesley College,
Masters Degrees from both New York University and the University of
Pennsylvania and has done additional work relating to non-profit
organizations at Harvard University Business School and Columbia University
Business School.
The National Council on the Humanities is responsible for advising the
Chair with respect to the policies, programs and procedures necessary for
the operation of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition,
the Council reviews applications for the awarding of grants and makes
recommendations to the Chair. Staff support and funding for the Council
are provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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