History Alumni Spotlights
Our History alumni use the research, writing, analytical, and critical thinking skills they developed at UM-Dearborn in careers across museums, archives, education, government, nonprofits, law, public history, and cultural institutions. Their journeys reflect the versatility of a history degree, with graduates preserving the past, shaping public understanding, conducting research, and making meaningful contributions across a variety of fields.
Major: History
Minors: Political Science and Psychology
Current Career: Attorney and Shareholder
Current Employer: Butzel Long
What is a recent professional achievement, milestone or accomplishment? One of my recent professional milestones was winning a trial in a highly contentious case involving stolen assets from an estate. The case required extensive investigation, complex motion practice, and trial advocacy. Successfully recovering the assets and securing a favorable verdict, plus attorney fees, for the client was incredibly rewarding.
What are your hobbies and personal interests? Outside of my legal practice, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our three children. I also enjoy playing tennis and golf.
What are your skills and areas of expertise? I am an experienced trial attorney and shareholder focusing on business and commercial litigation. My practice involves complex business disputes, including shareholder disputes, contract claims, and other high-stakes commercial matters. I particularly enjoy the strategic and analytical aspects of litigation and the opportunity to advocate for clients in the courtroom.
How Did Your Degree Help You in Your Career Field? People often assume a history degree is about memorizing dates and events, but in reality it is about developing critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and strong writing skills. Those abilities translate directly to the practice of law. While trial work happens in the courtroom, much of a lawyer’s work - and success - occurs beforehand through written advocacy: reading cases, evaluating competing arguments, and persuading a judge through clear and thoughtful briefing. My history degree trained me to analyze complex issues and communicate persuasively, which has been foundational to my career as a trial attorney.
What Did You Like Best About Your Time at UM-Dearborn? My experience at University of Michigan–Dearborn changed dramatically once I became involved in extracurricular activities on campus, including Amnesty International. Through those experiences, I built lasting friendships, became engaged in meaningful causes, and developed a strong sense of community. Those formative experiences helped shape my continued commitment to community involvement.
Major: History
Minor: Political Science
Current Career: Museum Curator
Current Employer: Dearborn Historical Museum
What is a recent professional achievement, milestone or accomplishment? I was part of the team that received a Michigan Historical Society State History Award in Education, recognizing the annual Pioneer School Program presented by the Dearborn Historical Museum.
What are your hobbies and personal interests? I enjoy reading and watching science fiction and fantasy, creating and playing card games and video games, as well as listening to music.
What are your skills and areas of expertise? My skills include collections management for museum artifacts along with historical research and writing. In my time at the Dearborn Historical Museum, I've also become adept at personnel management, including hiring and supervising staff, volunteers, and interns. I've also developed expertise in overseeing the museum's budget as well as partnerships with community organizations, educational institutions, and city agencies.
How did your degree help you in your career field? My degree was very helpful in my career; establishing a foundation to understand historical research, writing, and the roles that archives and collections play in shaping narratives. The internship program at UM-Dearborn also opened the door for me to gain practical experience in my chosen field.
What did you like best during your time at UM-Dearborn, and what is your fondest memory? The best part of my time at UM-Dearborn was meeting and learning from my professors and fellow students, especially in the History Honors program. One of my fondest memories includes figuring out my internships during senior year with Liz Clark, who was always so understanding and enthusiastic, and who I've continued to work with in the years since.
Major: History
Current Career: Outreach Specialist
Current Employer: The Zekelman Holocaust Center
What is a recent professional achievement, milestone or accomplishment? I am actively still working on this but I am spear heading our first Student Leadership Summit for High School Students. I am also deeply involved with our Summer Academy Program for teachers.
What are your hobbies and personal interests? I love to read and play video games!
What are your skills and areas of expertise? My area of expertise is German social history focusing on the experience of women and children. I primarily focus on WWII and the Holocaust but have studied from German Unification to Reunification.
How did your degree help you in your career field? My direct studies helped to make me an expert in the topic of the Holocaust which directly ties to the content of the museum that I work with. I started at The HC as a Museum Educator, giving tours to student groups. It is due to my degree that I have grown into new positions as my time with the museum as progressed allowing me to take on different roles in a museum setting.
What did you like best during your time at UM-Dearborn, and what is your fondest memory? I was a transfer student from a community college when I started at UM-Dearborn in 2019. I only had a brief moment at the University before COVID-19 hit. With that said one of my favorite memories is of my capstone course with Dr. Poling during lockdown. I really enjoyed coming up with my own research topics and getting to delve into one particular topic very deeply. The capstone was a really small cohort so it felt like a really intimate course where we all got to know each others interests.
Majors: History & Art History
Graduate School: Masters in Library & Information Science, Wayne State University
Current Career: Product Manager
Current Employer: Ford Motor Company
What is a recent professional achievement, milestone or accomplishment? One accomplishment I am most proud of is my contributions to the development of a digital humanities teaching tool which enables large scale investigation of digitized primary source texts. I contributed to this tool when I worked for Gale Cengage publishing company.
What are your hobbies and personal interests? Some personal hobbies and interests of mine include practicing yoga and dabbling with different ceramic and fiber art media.
What are your skills and areas of expertise? I work on teams that build software and digital products, helping turn ideas into clear plans everyone can follow. I write simple project goals and checklists, talk with developers and designers, and give regular feedback to improve the product. I also test designs with users and use their feedback to make things easier to use and more accessible.
How did your degree help you in your career field? One of the favorite parts of my job is identifying, validating, and solving problems. This involves rigorous research involving both primary and secondary source research. I use various methods like conducting user interviews, reviewing trade and scholarly publications, which I then synthesize into insights which inform the best path toward developing a comprehensive product solution.
What did you like best during your time at UM-Dearborn, and what is your fondest memory? Some of my favorite memories from UM-Dearborn are during my time working in the Mardigian library. I learned so much from the librarians and archivists on staff at the time. It’s what inspired me to pursue a master’s degree in library information science.