Three Women Scholars Appointed by President Obama to the National Council on the Humanities

The National Council on the Humanities, a panel of 26 members, meets three times each year to make recommendations on grant applications and to advise the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. President Obama has appointed three women scholars to serve on the council.

Francine Berman is the Edward R. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Prior to joining the faculty at RPI in 2009, Dr. Berman was a professor in the department of computer science and engineering and first holder of the High Performance Computing Endowed Chair in the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. Professor Berman is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Washington.

Patricia Limerick is a professor of history at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she also serves as the faculty director and chair of the board of the Center of the American West. Professor Limerick joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1984 after teaching at Harvard University. She was recently named Colorado State Historian. Professor Limerick’s latest book is Ditch in Time: The City, the West, and Water (Fulcrum Publishing, 2012). A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, Professor Limerick earned a Ph.D. in American studies at Yale University.

Shelly C. Lowe is the executive director of the Native American Program at Harvard University. She has held this position since 2009. Earlier, she was an assistant dean and director of the Native American Cultural Center at Yale University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in American Indian studies from the University of Arizona. She is currently studying for a doctorate in higher education with an emphasis on American Indian student success and services.