The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield is pleased to welcome a new Executive Director to our team! Dr. Rachel Dewan joins us from southeast Alaska where she lives with her family and works as the director of the Skagway Public Library. Trained as an archaeologist, Rachel has conducted research and fieldwork in Greece, Jordan, and the United States. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in 2021 where she researched miniaturization in Minoan art and material culture, and earned her Master of Studies in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford in 2014.
In addition to her academic studies, Rachel is active in cultural heritage non-profits and archaeological outreach. She is currently finishing her term as a Student Representative on the Board of the Canadian Institute in Greece, currently sits on the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA)’s Outreach and Education Committee, served as Chair of the AIA Student Affairs Interest Group from 2018-2021, worked as Managing Editor for the AIA Toronto Society’s biannual newsletter, and, from 2015-2016, volunteered as Executive Director of SAFE (Saving Antiquities for Everyone). She is also an ongoing volunteer with the non-profit, Skype a Scientist, and is passionate about cultural preservation and arts education for all.
When she’s not in the library or writing about ancient pots, Rachel can be found running, hiking, canoeing, or riding horses – any way to enjoy the Alaskan wilderness with her husband, 1 year old son, and 4 year old dog.
Latest News & Alerts
August 7, 2026
USCBS and American University's Washington College of Law are excited to announce that registration is now open for "The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield at Twenty: Two Decades of Protecting Cultural Heritage in Peril," our annual [...]
August 5, 2026
With many states failing to include cultural heritage in their dedicated wildfire planning frameworks, UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) conducted the first ever national assessment of wildfire risk to American [...]
July 31, 2026
On Wednesday, July 29, the Field Museum announced the creation of the Patty Gerstenblith Legal Fellowship in Art, Museum, and Cultural Heritage Law, a new endowed, two-year fellowship in honor of Dr. Patty Gerstenblith. We are [...]
