Marc Johnson
President, Boise

Idaho Statesman
December 15, 2009

Three new members, including two from Boise, have been elected to Idaho Humanities Council board, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The new members of the 20-member board are:

Marc Johnson of Boise, a former chairman of the IHC, rejoins the board after a three-year absence. Johnson is president of Gallatin Public Affairs, a Pacific Northwest public affairs/relations management firm. He is a former press secretary and chief of staff for former Gov. Cecil Andrus. Johnson served as chairman of the board of the national Federation of State Humanities Councils, advocating for the work of the 56 humanities councils in the states and territories. Johnson is writing a biography of Democratic Sen. Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who ran for vice president on the Progressive Party ticket and opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt on his court-packing scheme and pre-World War II foreign policy.

Lisa Brady of Boise, an associate professor of history at Boise State University, and an expert on environmental history. Brady served as a lead scholar in IHC’s 2008 summer teacher institute “‘A Word for Nature’: Exploring Environmental Literature.” Brady also served as IHC’s consulting scholar and lecturer for the tour of the Smithsonian traveling exhibit “Between Fences,” when it toured six Idaho communities in 2008-2009. Her book, “War upon the Land: Nature and Warfare in the American Civil War” is forthcoming from the University of Georgia Press.

Christopher Riggs of Lewiston, an associate professor of history at Lewis-Clark State College, and an expert on Native American history. Riggs has participated in and served as a consultant for many IHC-funded humanities projects and programs, dealing with Native American history, the History of the American West, America in the 1960s, and the Vietnam War.

The IHC awards grants to large and small organizations throughout Idaho for projects and programs that promote greater public awareness, appreciation, and understanding of literature, history, philosophy, law, cultural anthropology, and other humanities disciplines. The board also plans and implements a variety of its own council-conducted initiatives, including annual, weeklong summer institutes for teachers, Distinguished Humanities Lectures, traveling Smithsonian exhibitions, a statewide Humanities Speakers Bureau, occasional publications, and other programs.

The IHC board is comprised of academic, public, and at-large members representing all regions of the state. Four members are appointed by the governor. Terms are three years, renewable once. Several members rotate off the board each fall. For more information about the Council, contact (208) 345-5346, or read about the IHC online at www.idahohumanities.org