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CAS Staff

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May Berenbaum
Director

May Berenbaum was appointed Director on April 1, 2021. For more information, see her CAS Professor page.

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Masumi Iriye
Deputy Director

Masumi Iriye was appointed Assistant Director of the Center in October 2000 and promoted to Associate Director in October 2001. In October 2009 she was promoted to Deputy Director.  She is responsible for overseeing all Center programs, including the Research Appointments (Associates and Fellows) program, the annual interdisciplinary initiative and the George A. Miller Programs, and also serves as the primary liaison at the Center for the CAS Professors. She received her doctorate in the History of Art in 1994 (University of Michigan) specializing in visual culture from the early modern period in France. Her dissertation research was supported by a Bourse Chateaubriand, Fulbright Travel Fellowship and Rackham Graduate Research awards (University of Michigan). She has presented papers as an invited participant at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, D.C.) and the Center for 21st-Century Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has served as both a panelist and co-chair for meetings of the College Art Association. In August 2020 she joined the McKinley Foundation Board of Directors. She is the former Costume Mistress and Board Member of Champaign Urbana Ballet.

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Rita Conerly
Accounting Specialist

Rita Conerly has been with the Center since March 2015. Since 2010, she has held numerous positions at the University of Illinois, most recently in the School of Music.  Rita is primarily responsible for maintaining, monitoring, and articulating the budgets of the various CAS programs. She is also responsible for processing reimbursements, biennial inventories, honoraria, and fund transfers for various professors and program accounts. Additionally, she provides support for CAS’s public events including mailings, set-up/cleanup of events held at the Center, and many other duties as needed.

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Naomi Young
Office Support Specialist

Naomi Young joined CAS staff in April 2020. She assists with editing online and print material, processing applications, and maintaining event archives. Previously, she also worked at the College of Law as Managing Editor of the Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal. Naomi has been a docent at Krannert Art Museum since 2012.

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