Bill Peterson, President
Montana Heritage Commission                         
PO Box 338                                                                                                   
Virginia City, MT 59755                                     
billpeterson@mt.gov                                                        
406-843-5247 ext. 208          

President-Bill Peterson is the Curator of Interpretation with the Montana Heritage Commission in Virginia and Nevada Cities. He has an MA Museum Studies and a Ph.D. in American Culture Studies and has worked in museum administration since 1991. From 2000 to 2004 he was the Executive Director of the Northwest Montana Historical Society in Kalispell. Prior to joining the Montana Heritage Commission Bill operated a historical research and museum consulting business in Kalispell where he served as the U.S. chairman of the David Thompson Bicentennials Partnership and worked as the first statewide coordinator for the Museums Association of Montana. He has taught Montana History for Flathead Valley Community College and is the author of one book, numerous articles and the curator of several museum exhibits in Kalispell and Libby. He and his wife Susan now live in Sheridan.

Penny Redli, Secretary/Treasurer
Museum of the Beartooths                                        
PO Box 1                                                                   
Columbus, MT 59019                                                      
jim_penny@msn.com                                                                                
406-322-4588 (W)                                                     

MAM Secretary/Treasurer-Penny Redli - has been the Executive Director of the Carbon County Historical Society and Museum for the last eight and half years.  She is responsible for overseeing operations of the museum housed in the oldest Labor Temple in the state of Montana. During her time at the museum she has filled the newly renovated building with exhibits, organized the move of the archives into the building, and assisted in the continuing effort to develop this small hometown museum into a first class museum.

Redli was born in Red Lodge, Montana and raised on a hay and cattle ranch near by.  She went to school in Red Lodge and was active in band, FFA, 4-H, and showing horses before graduation in 1981.  She is the fourth generation descendent of Finnish immigrants to the area around the turn of the century.  Her great grandfather arrived in Red Lodge in 1900 and was killed in 1904 as a result of a mining accident in the Rocky Fork Coal Mine.  Her great uncle was married to Alice Greenough (the internationally-known female bronc rider from Red Lodge).

Prior to working at the museum, she was a photographer for 14 years, and has been the official photographer for the Montana State High School Rodeo Finals and the Northern Rodeo Association Finals in the course of operation her own rodeo photography business.  She worked for 12 years for Coleman Gallery and Studio in Red Lodge, as photographers assistant, museum framing and matting, and hanging shows.

Penny enjoys the opportunity to work with the Museums Association of Montana to help further all museums in the great State of Montana.

Pat Roath
Registrar & Collections Manager
Museum of the Rockies
600 W. Kagy Blvd.
Bozeman, MT 59717-2730
406-994-5285; fax 406-994-2682
proath@montana.edu

Pat Roath is Registrar & Collections Manager for the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.  In addition to service with MAM, Pat continues to work extensively with local, regional and national professional museum organizations.  She has held curatorial positions with the Montana Heritage Commission at Virginia City, Indiana University-Bloomington, the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC, and at North Dakota State University; and is a consultant in collections management and historic costume care & exhibit.  Pat holds M.S. and B.S. degrees from North Dakota State University.

Susan R. Near
Special Projects Manager
Montana Historical Society
Helena, Montana                  
snear@mt.gov
406-444-4713

Susan Near is Special Projects Manager at the Montana Historical Society in Helena.  Prior positions at the Montana Historical Society include Director of Museum Services (1989-2007), Curator of Collections (1984-1989), and Museum Registrar (1982-1984).  She also was Collections Research Specialist at the Valley Forge Historical Society in Pennsylvania.  Near was curator for over 20 major exhibitions ranging from Western art to decorative arts, and has conducted material culture research covering a broad range of historical collections.  She is a co-author of Montana’s State Capitol: The People’s  House, Montana Historical Society Press,  2002; contributed to Care of Collections in Historic Buildings, Montana Historical Society publication, 1984; authored  "The USS MONTANA Silver Service," Silver Magazine, January-February 1985; and has presented programs and workshops on a wide variety of history, art and museum management topics. Near has extensive experience in cultural organization administration - especially in the areas of grant writing, heritage tourism, educational outreach, public relations, marketing, planning for new museum construction, and project and event management.  She is an Accreditation Visiting Committee member for the American Association of Museums, conducted peer reviews for the Museums Assessment Program and has reviewed and served on grants panels for the Institute for Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

John G. Lepley
Montana Ag Museum                                                        
PO Box 262                                                               
Fort Benton, MT 59442
7lep@mtintouch.net                                              
406-622-5316                                                            
                                                                                   
John G. Lepley: Born to generations of  Montanan’s, John G. “Jack” Lepley grew up in Fort Benton and still resides there.  He received a B.S degree from the University of Montana-Missoula in 1950 and an M.S. from the same institution in 1961.  For years Jack taught and coached at Fort Benton High School, where he was the chairman of the Science Department from 1960 until his retirement in 1993.  His community involvement has been consistent through the years—ranging from stints on the city and country planning boards (1980-1990) to terms as a councilman for the City of Fort Benton (1980-1988) to work as the executive director of the River and Plains Society Board of Trustees (1986-present).

Governor Brian Schweitzer appointed Mr. Lepley to the Board of Trustees of the Montana Historical Society in 2005 for a full five-year term. Jack has been the driving force behind the several museums and historic sites in/near Fort Benton, has devoted terms to both the Montana Historic Preservation Review Board (1980-1988) and has been a director of the Museums Association of Montana since 1999, and served on the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Commission 1997-2006. 

Jude Sheppard
Blaine County Museum
PO Box 928
Chinook, MT 59523
blmuseum@mtintouch.net
406-357-2590

Jude Sheppard has lived in North Central Montana most of her life.  She and husband, Terry, owned a ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains before moving to Chinook.  She worked at Western Bank for six years as the new accounts rep.

In 1996, Jude started her career as curator of the Blaine County Museum.  Her duties are wide-ranging, and include the responsibilities of registrar and collections manager, staff supervisor, bookstore and gift shop manager, and tour guide.  During her tenure, she has created several new exhibits, renovated old exhibits, initiated the booking of traveling exhibits for the museum’s gallery, and is currently redesigning the display cases in the Paleontology exhibit. 

Jude also works in partnership with the National Park Service to maintain the Blaine County Museum’s role as interim visitor center for the Bear Paw Battlefield. 
    
She presently serves as secretary for the Blaine County Museum Board is on the Board of Directors of the Blaine County Wildlife Museum and Russell Country, is active with the Montana Dinosaur Trail, and is treasurer for the Chinook Community Christmas Club.

Kevin Kooistra-Manning
Western Heritage Center                                               
2822 Montana Ave
Billings, MT 59101
Kevinkm@ywhc.org
406-256-6809                                                            
406-256-6850 fax

Kevin Kooistra-Manning is the Community Historian at the Western Heritage Center in Billings, since 1997.  Kooistra-Manning has worked in Montana for the past twenty-five years in various positions, including archeologist, cultural anthropologist, teacher, and scriptwriter.  His work at the Western Heritage Center includes exhibit research and design, grant writing, public programming, and managing the museum’s archival collection.

He has an undergraduate degree from Montana State University-Bozeman, and a Masters degree in Applied Anthropology from Northern Arizona University.  He presently serves on the Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board and Museums Association of Montana Board and was an advisor for the Museum Loan Network’s project, Connecting Stories: Connecting Objects, and recently, presented at the Smithsonian Institution national Affiliations Conference.  Kevin, Ann, and their two young daughters live in the Pioneer park neighborhood.

Susan Stewart
Plenty Coup State Park
PO Box 100
Pryor, MT 59066
plentycoups@plentycoups.org
406-252-1289
406-208-2731 cell

Susan Stewart-studied painting at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland,
California and earned her BA in Fine Arts from Montana State University.  Stewart is well known in Montana for founding with her late sister Kathryn Stewart, Montana Indian Contemporary Arts, a non-profit native arts service organization.

Besides installations, paintings, and beadwork, Stewart worked on a multi-media documentary with Russian filmmaker, Arvo Iho, called “The Crow-Mapuche Connection”. Susan Stewart is also known as "Her Colors Are Good," and is a versatile artist in the main stream of the contemporary Native North American art movement. Susan is widely exhibited throughout the United States as well as internationally.  She did the illustrations and consultation on a book about Lewis and Clark written by French writer, Francois Perriot, published in France in 2004.

Currently, Susan Stewart is the Park Manager of Chief Plenty Coups State Park near Pryor. Susan has two children Vanessa Watts who is currently earning her Doctorate at Harvard University and studying Epidemiology and Public Health. Her son Noah Watts is an aspiring actor/musician and screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California and has appeared in several stage productions and Films that include “The Slaughter Rule” "Skins" and “Skinwalker” by the award winning and acclaimed director Chris Ayers.

She raised her sister Kathryn’s daughter Maya Bronston.  Susan currently resides in Pryor, Montana, on the Crow reservation.