News Article

COLLEEN SHOGAN NAMED 11TH ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES AND FIRST WOMAN TO LEAD THE AGENCY

May 10, 2023

Washington, DC– We are pleased to announce that Dr. Colleen Shogan has officially been confirmed as the next Archivist of the United States. Dr. Shogan is making history as the first woman to serve in this esteemed position. She was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden on August 3, 2022, and confirmed by the US Senate on May 10, 2023. Dr. Shogan comes to the National Archives and Records Administration from the White House Historical Association, where she served as Senior Vice President and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Center. 

“On behalf of the National Archives Foundation Board, we are thrilled by the confirmation of Dr. Colleen Shogan as the 11th Archivist of the United States. As the nonprofit partner of the National Archives, we are very much looking forward to working with her as she leads the tireless National Archives staff in preserving, protecting and making publicly available our nation’s valuable records and documents. They tell the story of our American experience and help us celebrate our democracy, inspiring our people to even greater civic commitment and engagement,“ said Governor Jim Blanchard, Chair and President of the National Archives Foundation Board of Directors. 

As we welcome Dr. Shogan, we also offer our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Debra Steidel Wall for her service as Acting Archivist of the United States. She led the agency for the past 12 months, which followed 30-plus years of career service to NARA. Ms. Wall provided exemplary leadership, and we are grateful for her poise, her tenacity and her commitment to strengthening our nation’s democracy through equitable public access to government records.

Dr. Colleen Shogan Bio

On August 3, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden nominated Dr. Colleen Shogan to be Archivist of the United States. The U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Shogan as the 11th Archivist of the United States on May 10,2023. Most recently, Dr. Shogan served as Senior Vice President and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association. She previously worked in the United States Senate and as a senior executive at the Library of Congress. Dr. Shogan was the Vice Chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission and the Chair of the Board of Directors at the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation. She taught at Georgetown University in the Government Department and moderated seminars for the Aspen Institute. She is the previous President of the National Capital Area Political Science Association and served on the American Political Science Association (APSA) Council, the governing body of the organization. Her research focuses on the American presidency, presidential rhetoric, women in politics, and Congress. 

A native of the Pittsburgh area, Dr. Shogan holds a BA in Political Science from Boston College and a Ph.D. in American Politics from Yale University, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Order of the Cross and Crown, and the Washington, D.C. Literary Society. 

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