WAPA Exec Board Profiles 

Dr. Suzanne Heurtin-Roberts

President (2019-2022)

University of Maryland College Park, Dept. of Anthropology

Expertise: Health equity, socio-cultural aspects of health, participatory research, implementation science and anthropology, place and health.

Dr. Suzanne Heurtin-Roberts is the current President of WAPA. A Medical Anthropologist and Social Worker, she retired from a 20—year career at the National Institutes of Health focused on health equity, implementation science and community health.  Before working at the NIH was a faculty member at The Catholic University of America. Her current focus is on neighborhood, cultural preservation and health.

Dr. Erik Kjeldgaard
Past-President (2017-2019)

US Government Accountability Office

Expertise: Culture change, religion, federal role in addressing looting and trafficking of Native American cultural items.

Dr. Erik Kjeldgaard received his Ph.D. in 2007 from the State University of New York at Buffalo and currently works in tribal affairs at the U.S. Government Accountability office, where his recent work has focused on the federal government's role in addressing looting and trafficking of Native American cultural property and efforts to repatriate it. He administered the social and behavioral sciences panel of the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board and evaluated educational innovations aimed at improving performance and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM programs and careers.

Dr. Jenny Masur
Secretary

National Capital Región Manager, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, National Park Service - Retired

Expertise: Cultural Anthropology, migration.

Dr. Jenny Masur received her Ph.D. from University of Chicago and worked 25 years for the National Park Service. She conducted field research in Spain and received a Fulbright award to teach in Argentina twice. She has published work on Jewish immigrants from Russ-Poland, Spanish guest workers and the Underground Railroad.

Dr. Gretchen E. Schafft
At-Large Member

American University, Dept. Of Anthropology

Expertise: Social and Cultural Anthropology, Public History

Dr. Gretchen Schafft is an anthropologist with a post-doctoral degree in health science with a more than 50-year career in research and teaching. Her work focused on equity and justice in health, education and services in the US and public history in Germany and Poland. Her books have been published in English, German and Polish.