Executive Director UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity c/o UW-Milwaukee - Mitchell 225 P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 229-2261/6701 Fax: (414) 229-4581 Email: jfk2@uwm.edu

Dr. Joyce F. Kirk wears two administrative hats, one being the executive director of the University of Wisconsin System Institute on Race and Ethnicity and the other as chair of UW-Milwaukee's Department of Africology. She joined the faculty at UWM in fall of 1990, was appointed the executive director of the Institute in 2000, and became the chair of the Department of Africology in 2006.

Kirk guides Institute business--overseeing the planning and distribution of grants, the organization and holding of conferences, Institute publications, research, and special events. She represents the IRE at many UW System functions, as well as at various community events.

Kirk envisions the Institute as a catalyst in support of rigorous and critical research, as well as the promotion of knowledge building pertaining to the complex, as well as subtle, interactions, affects, and effects of race and ethnicity in relation to the lives and behaviors of individuals and groups. As we all learn more about our similarities and differences, we can hopefully work together towards implementing highly beneficial policies and practices in our society.

An historian of African and African American history and studies, Kirk received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has done research in South Africa since the early 1980s, most recently in May 2006. She has published several articles pertaining to South Africa, including "Not an Honorary White: Conducting Research during the Days of Apartheid." In 1999 her book, Making a Voice: African Resistance to Segregation in South Africa, was awarded the Kenneth Kingery prize for the best scholarly publication in Wisconsin in history by the Council of Wisconsin Writers.

Kirk’s research interests include rites of passage, rituals and ceremonies in African and African-American culture; Sangomas (African doctors) and HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa; traditional healing and Western medicine; as well as the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in Africa and the Americas. Kirk is currently writing a book on rites of passage in contemporary American society, and completing research and writing on African doctors and HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa.

Kirk has received fellowships from Fulbright, USAID, and worked with international scholars on grants from the National Science Foundation. She is currently the principal investigator (P.I.) for a Helen Bader Foundation grant awarded to the UW System in 2004 to work with the America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee to organize manuscripts, artifacts, and other holdings, and conduct a feasibility study concerning the establishment of a Center for Black Holocaust Studies. Also, since September 2004, Kirk has been a team leader on an NSF grant partnering Spelman College and the UW System vis-à-vis collaboration with African scholars for the purpose of constructing research teams designed to scrutinize a range of topics in which there is a shared interest. The preparation and submission of proposals for extramural funding, to secure resources necessary to do research that contributes to the nurturing of the capacities and potentialities of African and African American students and faculty in higher education, constitute a crucial element of this collaboration.

Associate Director UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity c/o UW-Milwaukee - Mitchell 225 P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 229-4700/6701 Fax: (414) 229-4581 Email: tonnesen@uwm.edu

Tom's tenure with the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity (IRE) dates to its beginnings in 1987 and extends back to 1979 and the former American Ethnic Studies Coordinating Committee. From 2001 to 2004 he left to pursue other opportunities in higher education, returning to the IRE in December 2004.

As the IRE's associate director, he serves as the day-to-day administrator and assists the executive director in formulating and implementing policy and programs, supervising staff, monitoring budgetary matters and expenditures, organizing IRE conferences and events, coordinating the various grant proposal processes, distributing the bi-monthly E-Bulletins, and representing the IRE at many UW System functions and at UW campuses.

Tom's educational background includes a B.S. in History/Secondary Education, an M.S. in History/Curriculum & Instruction, and doctoral courses in the Urban Studies Program at UW-Milwaukee. In addition to his many years with the IRE, Tom has been a secondary social studies teacher, an associate dean in adult basic education and ESL in Wisconsin's technical college system, and a program manager for a five-year federal grant on urban teacher preparation. He served as the managing editor of the IRE's "Ethnicity and Public Policy" series, nine volumes of which were published in the 1980s and 1990s.

Senior Administrative Specialist UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity c/o UW-Milwaukee - Mitchell 225 P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 229-4804/6701 Fax: (414) 229-4581 Email: jtreskow@uwm.edu

A native of Milwaukee, Judy has been a member of the staff of the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity (IRE) since 1989. Prior to that she was employed as an investigator with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council.

One of her primary responsibilities includes serving as the editor of the newsletter, Kaleidoscope II, and as such she is in constant contact with IRE grant recipients as well as contributors to the newsletter's articles. She plays a major communications role in outreach to all the UW System campuses and community, publicizing IRE grant programs and activities while gathering information on relevant diversity initiatives and events. Over the years, Judy has taken on increased administrative duties within the IRE office, serving an important role in budget recordkeeping and expenditures. Also, she works closely with the executive director and associate director in collaborative decision-making regarding IRE policy and programs.

Judy graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a dual major in African-American Studies and Sociology, in addition to earning a certificate in Women's Studies. She completed her course work in UWM's Urban Affairs master's program, during which time she received two Advanced Opportunity Program (AOP) fellowships and held an internship in the office of Senator William Proxmire.

Program Associate UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity c/o UW-Milwaukee - Mitchell 225 P.O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 229-6701 Fax: (414) 229-4581 Email: fjames@uwm.edu

Franc has been the program associate for the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity (IRE) since fall 2004, having come to our office from a previous position with the Wisconsin Lottery. Prior to that, Franc held positions in both the private and public sectors as an accountant with Western Publishing in Racine and as deputy director of Southside Revitalization, a community development corporation in Racine that was federally funded through the Office of Economic Opportunity.

At the IRE, Franc serves in a multitude of capacities. Among the most important are the maintenance and updating of the IRE’s various databases, and the upkeep and revision of our subscriber bases (both e-mail and mailing addresses). Also, Franc prepares numerous reports and spreadsheets on both past and present IRE activities, serves as the office purchasing agent, and works with student employees in their reporting of hours. He plays a key role in organizing and implementing IRE conferences and events, and handles all routine clerical duties. Finally, Franc is learning to complete revisions and changes to the IRE website.

Franc holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Dominican College in Racine, and has completed fifteen credits in the MBA program at UW-Parkside

Student Help- Web Assistant Email: kmh7@uwm.edu

Kent is a senior at UW-Milwaukee pursuing a B.F.A in Music Composition/Technology and a minor in German. At once a prospective Computer Science and Music double major, he took the advice of his advisor and chose to work only towards the music degree. Maintaining an interest in computers, he learned various web languages and has worked on several campus websites since transferring to UWM from UW-Madison in 2005. His involvement with the Institute on Race and Ethnicity primarily includes the redesign and maintenance of the IRE website.

Kent is slated to graduate as a fifth-year senior in May 2008, hopefully attending graduate school for film scoring afterwards. He maintains a personal website, which provides directories of his music and other activities.

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