Jun

On the Move at Special Events, Protection Services and American Art

June 4, 2015 Coming? Going? Let your colleagues know! Submit items to torch@si.edu and put “On the Move” in the subject line. Be sure to include contact information and a picture as an attachment. We love pictures!

Office of Special Events and Protocol

Three new special events coordinators have joined the Office of Special Events and Protocol:

Alex Butera joined the OSEP team on April 7 from 300Brand, a media and marketing services organization, where she did marketing and events. Prior to that she worked at Susan Davis International where she helped produce events, including the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. She holds Undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Alabama.

Prior to joining OSEP on April 21, Sam Nystrom was a development associate for the Wilson Center where he planned and organized special events. Previously, he planned meetings and events for The Optical Society and the Washington National Opera. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Auzin Rafiee joined OSEP on May 4. Since 2009 she has worked in various capacities at the State Department where she planned meetings and provided management and logistical support for major events including presidential summits. Alex holds a bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University.

: Alex Butera

: Sam Nystrom

: Auzin Rafiee

Office of Protection Services

Deirdre “Dee” Walker Joined the Smithsonian May 18 as the new Deputy Director, Operations, for the Office of Protection Services.

Walker retired as an assistant chief of police from Montgomery County Police in Maryland, where she had served since 1985 in various capacities in patrol, the Policy and Planning Division, the Drug Enforcement Section, at the Training Academy, and in the Special Operations Division. From 2000 to 2002, she was the commander of the 4th District station, serving the Wheaton, Glenmont and Aspen Hill communities. From 2002 to 2008, Walker was chief of investigations for MCP, and served on the command team for the D.C. Sniper case.

Walker grew up in Silver Spring, Md., and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in management from the University of Maryland, University College. She also earned a master’s degree in security studies from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security and later served as a consultant to that agency. From 2007 to 2008, she served as a senior fellow to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She is also a graduate of Leadership Montgomery and the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy.

Dee Walker (fourth from left) with officers from the Office of Protective Services.

American Art Museum

John Jacob has been appointed the McEvoy Family Curator for Photography at the American Art Museum where he will be responsible for research, exhibitions and acquisitions related to the museum’s collection. He will join the museum on July 13.

Jacob comes to the museum from the Inge Morath Foundation, where he was director and vice-president facilitating programs related to Morath and support of women photographers, and from the Magnum Foundation, where he was program director of its Legacy Program-collecting, researching and overseeing cultural projects related to the history of Magnum Photos. He was the editor for “Kodak Girl: The Martha Cooper Collection,” a social history relating the profession of photography by American women to the invention and success of the snapshot. Jacob’s research on spirit photography and the tintype, for which he received the 2012 Shpilman Award for Excellence in Photography from the Israel Museum, will be published by the museum as “Ghost Stories: Found Photography and the Certification of Presence.”

Jacob began his career as an artist, working with reproductive media including photography, rubber-stamps, mail art, and artist’s books. He earned a master’s degree in art history from Indiana University in 1994 and attended the Getty Leadership Institute in 1996.