Athenæum's People
The heart of The Athenæum is our people: our members (whether Shareholders, Subscribers, Young Friends or Students), our Board of Directors, our staff and interns and our many volunteers.
As newcomers to Philadelphia, and recently retired, we have been looking for events that appeal to our interests in history, philosophy, art and architecture, and for similar volunteering opportunities. The Athenaeum has been a goldmine for both. Rarely a month passes when we don't find a lecture, an exhibit or a club event to attend. Our volunteering ranges from assisting with cataloging projects to leading discussion groups and book clubs. The Athenaeum has also become a kind of second home where we can come to relax and read, or chat with other members. We joined the Athenaeum shortly after we moved to Philadelphia and we couldn't be happier with our membership.
Board of Directors
Board Directors are elected by Shareholders at the Annual Meeting each April and may serve up to two consecutive three-year terms. All Board Directors are Shareholders. The Directors bring their knowledge as area leaders in architecture, architectural history, arts & culture organizations, education, finance, law and the sciences to their oversight of The Athenæum’s mission, vision, finances and strategic plan. This April, four Directors rotated off the Board after years of distinguished service. At the same time, The Athenæum welcomed 5 new Directors.
Our Interns
During Fiscal Year 2025, The Athenæum welcomed five undergraduate and one post-graduate intern who worked in our archives, membership office and Regional Digital Imaging Center. Each of them helped staff with priority needs – whether working on a much needed survey of the collections kept in our vault, creating finding aids for previously unprocessed collections, helping to organize the 2025 Collage symposium or digitizing items from our collection. Our interns gained invaluable experience and skills working with our staff while we improved access to collections and programs for you.
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- Key: *elected for first term April 2025 **Rotated off board in FY2025
THE BOARD
Jeffrey Cooper, President
Adele Gorrilla, Vice President
Michael Horgan, Treasurer
Lynn Schwartz, Secretary
Nora Barry
Richard Bartholomew, Chair, Building Committee
Pierce Buller*, Chair, Governance & Nominations Committee
Veronica Chapman-Smith, Chair, External Relations Committee
Jeffrey Cohen, Chair, Collections Committee
P. Justin Detwiler
F. Scott Donahue**
Michael Gary**
Trina Gary*
Pamela Harper*
Mary Hawkesworth, Chair, Circulating Library Committee
Alison Lazerwitz*
Kelly R. Lee
Nancy Moses, Chair, Development Committee
Zoë Pappas*
Matt Rader**
Bernard M. Resnick
Ralph Rosen, Chair, Literary Awards Committee
David B. Rowland
Robert Morris Steiner**
Lucy Strackhouse
OUR STAFF
Beth Shalom Hessel, Executive Director
‘Pemi Aguda, Front Desk Assistant
Patricia Altman, Director of Programs and Engagement
MeiXing Hunt-Babcock, Digital Imaging Special Projects Assistant
Jim Carroll, Imaging Specialist – RDIC
Christina Doe, Building Supervisor
Leigh Gallagher, Front Desk & Membership Assistant
Jill LeMin Lee, Librarian
Liam Mulshine, Development Database Administrator
Alexa Perillo, Development & Membership Manager
Brice Peterson, Associate Archivist Librarian
Lois Reibach, Resource Description & Access Librarian
Valerie Roche, Front Desk & Member Assistant (substitute)
Megan Cross Schmitt, Assistant Librarian
Kristina Wilson, Gladys Brooks Curator of Architecture
OUR INTERNS
Between July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025:
Greyson Daniels (Post-graduate, Winter/Spring 2025) Library & Archives Intern
Lydia Hessel-Robinson (Wellesley College, Spring/Summer 2025), Archives Intern
MeiXing Hunt-Babcock (Drexel University, Fall 2023 & Spring/Summer 2024), Archival & Digital Imaging Intern
Oli Oski (Drexel University, Fall/Winter 2024), Archival & Digital Imaging Intern
Lena Tran (Drexel University, Spring/Summer 2024) Events & Membership Intern
Brooke Quigley (Drexel University, Spring/Summer 2025), Digital Archives Intern
Erin White (Drexel University, Spring/Summer 2024), Archival & Digital Imaging Intern
Volunteers
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Joanne Aitken
Brendan Bayer
Peter Blair
Kevin Block
David Breiner
David Brownlee
John Cassidy
Emily Cooperman
Karie Diehorn
Susan Felker
Jane Fischer
Jonathan Friedan
Ann Goslin
Michael Guttman
Anthony Hennen
David Hollenberg
Ed Jakmauh
William Jantsch
Matt Krissel
Michael Lewis
Eva Loeb
Sandra Markham
Robert Mitchell
Greg Prichard
Darl Rastorfer
Franklyn Rodgers
Rebecca Roland
Kathy Moses Shelton
Ned Scharff
Kera Sloan
Maria Thompson
Lynnie Wachman
Konstanze Bachmann
Gabriel Caceres
Alison Carafa
Greyson Daniels
Sarah Davidson
Lynn Mandarano
Lisa Rosner
Patricia Baker
Fran Carter
Daryl Chen
Francine A Cohen
Lynn Davidman
Randall Drain
Jesse Ferrino
Audrey Forrest
Mira Gohel
Nathan Gorenstein
Michael Guttman
James Hanley
Kera J Sloan
Bill Jantsch
William Jantsch
Eric Kaplan
Wyatt Leopold
Lisa Marks
Margaret Meigs
Amy Michael
Robert Mitchell
Christine Pickup
Lucille Pilling
Lisa Rosner
Nils Van Ammers
Lynn Alison Wachman
Melinda Wu
Membership
Campbell Adams
Lisa Rosner
A/V & Building
Zelda Madrigal
Perry Maiorana
Nils Van Ammers
Docents
Mira Gohel
William Jantsch
COMMITTED TO OUR MISSION
Looking Outward
Looking Outward
Learning
Learning
Diversity
Diversity
Culture
Culture
Collaboration
Collaboration
Creativity & Innovation
Creativity & Innovation
Community & Place
Community & Place
Scott owns Queens Vintage Guitars in South Philly where he sells acoustic and electric guitars, basses, and other fretted instruments mainly from the 1920s to the 1960s. He joined The Athenæum as a Young Friend member in 2024. He enjoys visiting The Athenaeum on his days off to read magazines and catch up on work, but usually ends up talking to the staff at the front desk. His favorite memory from The Athenæum this year was the book swap event with Club Connection – he thinks wrapping the books and unwrapping them was as fun as going home with a new book. One word Scott would use to describe The Athenæum is 'inviting'.