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Staff Directory

President’s Office • (505) 954-7211 • mfbrown@sarsf.org 
Michael F. Brown

Michael F. Brown

President

2014-Present
Dr. Brown, a cultural anthropologist, has been president of the School for Advanced Research since 2014. His research covers a broad range of topics, including the Indigenous peoples of Amazonia, new religious movements, and the global challenge of protecting Indigenous cultural property from misuse and appropriation. He has an AB degree from Princeton and a PhD in anthropology from the University of Michigan and has been awarded research fellowships by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Institute for Advanced Study. Prior to his appointment as SAR president, Brown served on the faculty of Williams College for 34 years.

In addition to numerous scholarly articles, Brown is the author of six books, including The Channeling Zone: American Spirituality in an Anxious Age (1997), Who Owns Native Culture? (2003), and Upriver: The Turbulent Life and Times of an Amazonian People (2014). He has also published articles and reviews in publications including Natural History, Smithsonian,The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Times Literary Supplement, and the New York Times Book Review.

Jorge Fonseca

Jorge Fonseca

Vice President for Finance & Administration

2023–Present • 505-954-7226 • fonseca@sarsf.org

Jorge previously served as the director of finance and operations for the non-profit organization, Esperanza Shelter in Santa Fe for seven years. He has held a variety of senior management roles in the resort, real estate and publishing industries responsible for financial functions, information technology services, risk management, marketing services, and operations.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he has made Santa Fe his home since 1990. He earned a BA in economics from the University of California Santa Barbara.

Jolene Lujan

Jolene Lujan

Executive Administrator and Board Liaison

2024–Present • 505-954-7211 • jlujan@sarsf.org

Jolene, a lifelong resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, joined SAR after over a decade as a paralegal. Although she is a newcomer to SAR, she enjoys the diversity and challenges of this position. In her spare time, Jolene enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her family.

Public Programs and Communications • (505) 954-7220
Mary G. Madigan

Mary G. Madigan

Director of Public Programs and Communications

2021-Present • 505-954-7223 • madigan@sarsf.org

Mary Madigan has led the advancement of the arts and nonprofit management from positions at the Vermont Mozart Festival, international music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, Meet The Composer, Concert Artists Guild, The New School, and other important organizations. She hosted a conversation with Kinan Azmeh, a Syrian-born musician, speaking on “Art in Times of Crisis” at The Watermill Center (NY) in 2016. Madigan’s extensive experience in programming and drawing community around arts and culture leads her to the mission of SAR where she develops programs to engage the public in SAR’s body of knowledge, scholarship, and creative work.

Alexia Lozano

Alexia Lozano

Creative Services Manager

2023-Present  • 505-954-7258 • lozano@sarsf.org

Alexia is a graphic designer and illustrator living in Santa Fe. Before moving to New Mexico, she was based in Los Angeles designing for entertainment industry events including NATPE Miami, NATPE Budapest International, The Iris Awards, and The Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards. She received a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design from California State University, Fullerton. Alexia has illustrated and designed four children’s books and published over thirty editorial illustrations. She is thrilled to be working for SAR, pursuing her interests in design and social science.

Marcia Richardson

Marcia Richardson

Reception Center Administrator

2019-Present • 505-954-7213 • richardson@sarsf.org

Marcia Richardson moved to Santa Fe in the fall of 2013, after living in San Diego for forty years. She previously worked at the University of California, San Diego. Marcia was also a business owner for over thirty years, specializing in designing marketing materials and advertising, as well as providing administrative support for small businesses. In her role as the receptionist and administrative assistant, Marcia manages incoming inquiries and visitors at the reception center and organizes SAR’s campus tours. In her spare time, she loves reading, spending time with her beautiful rescue dog, gardening, and exploring all that Santa Fe has to offer.

Advancement • (505) 954-7231 • development@sarsf.org
Lindsay Archuleta

Lindsay Archuleta

Director of Advancement Operations

2016–Present • 505-954-7231 • archuleta@sarsf.org

​Lindsay grew up in Taos, New Mexico, and received her master of business administration from Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico. She began her career working in international development and with indigenous cultures in Kenya and Brazil before settling back in New Mexico. She has worked in fundraising for non-profits in New Mexico for over ten years including the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. She serves on the board of the Santa Fe Watershed Association and is a graduate of Leadership Santa Fe Class of 2020.

Helen Brooks

Helen Brooks

Director of Leadership Giving

2021–Present • 505-954-7238 • hbrooks@sarsf.org

Helen previously served as the founding hospital chief executive for Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center. After more than twenty-five years in healthcare leadership roles, and having achieved licensing and accreditation for the new facility, she has joined SAR’s team to focus on major and planning giving. Along with work in the realm of clinical operations, strategy, program development, philanthropy, marketing, and public relations, Helen has also served on the boards of numerous arts and civic organizations, including the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor’s Economic Development Committee, and the National Board of the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Melinda Sue Robbins

Melinda Sue Robbins

Grants Manager

2021–Present • 505-954-7250 • robbins@sarsf.org

Melinda moved to Santa Fe in early 2021 to hike mountain trails and enjoy the many cultural events that the city offers. Originally from rural Pennsylvania, she has a BA in photography and an MA in adult and community education. In her previous career directing outreach education for art colleges, Melinda learned to procure corporate, foundation, and government grant funding to support programming. Since then, she has expanded her grant writing skills to help organizations in higher education, the arts, and social service sectors meet their fundraising goals.

Kat Bernhardt

Kat Bernhardt

Advancement Associate

2021–Present • 505-954-7230 • bernhardt@sarsf.org

Kat is from Fairbanks in the Golden Heart Interior of Alaska. Continually curious, Kat is fascinated by the stories told by Paleolithic art and the impact of geography and religion on cultures and languages. She has a master’s in education, a bachelor’s in English literature and music, and a professional background in accounting and journalism. Her great-grandmother fell in love with the City Different in the 1930s, becoming a revered member of the community for over thirty years. Kat enjoys uncovering the layers of history in Santa Fe and New Mexico, traveling, hiking, creative writing, choral music, jazz, and languages. Kat is honored to be part of the resilient community of creative thinkers at the School for Advanced Research.

Scholar Programs • (505) 954-7237 • scholar@sarsf.orgseminar@sarsf.org
Paul Ryer

Paul Ryer

Scholar Programs Director

2016–Present • 505-954-7240 • ryer@sarsf.org

As the director of Scholar Programs, Dr. Paul Ryer helps guide the selection of resident scholar fellowships and supports researchers during their residencies. He also oversees the J.I. Staley Prize, manages a range of on-campus scholar seminars, and serves as the primary point of contact for a growing, global network of SAR alumni. Under his leadership, the department has initiated efforts that ensure the program’s relevance to twenty-first century scholarship via an increased focus on: cross-disciplinary work; newly-developed fellowship field areas; collaboration among participating scholars; and the establishment of programs that embrace a greater awareness of new theories and emerging paradigms within anthropology and related fields.

Dr. Ryer received his PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Chicago in 2006. With over two decades of experience in academia, professor Ryer’s specific areas of anthropological expertise include the Caribbean, migration and diaspora, historical anthropology, semiotics, cultural citizenship, and religion. Since his initial fieldwork as a Ruth Landes Fellow in the 1990s, while affiliated with the University of Havana, he has conducted long-term research on Cuba and its diasporas. Currently, Ryer is studying the contemporary Cuban Protestant revival island through the lens of an ecumenical seminary in Matanzas, Cuba—an institution which survived the atheism of the early Revolution and is now thriving. He is the author of Beyond Cuban Waters, an ethnography which not only explores the cultural life of contemporary Cuba, but examines Cubans’ understanding of the world, and Cuba’s place in it through the lens of revolutionary-era Cuban-African educational exchanges. Prior to coming to SAR, Professor Ryer taught at the University of Chicago, Williams College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of California, Riverside. Read more…

Erika Pompa

Erika Pompa

Program Coordinator, Scholar Programs

2022–Present • 505-954-7237 • pompa@sarsf.org

Indian Arts Research Center • (505) 954-7205 • iarc@sarsf.org
Elysia Poon

Elysia Poon

IARC Director

2007–Present • 505-954-7279 • poon@sarsf.org

With over two decades experience in the museum field, Elysia’s career has demonstrated a dedication to collaborative programming and community-based collections care. Since becoming IARC director in 2019, Elysia has helped facilitate the development of the Standards for Museums with Native American Collections and served as project facilitator for the groundbreaking nationally traveling exhibition, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery. Under her leadership, the IARC continues to be at the forefront of the national conversation around how collecting institutions and Native American communities can work together to foster and promote cultural heritage and further contemporary art practices.

Prior to becoming IARC director, Elysia was the IARC’s curator of education. She has also worked for the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, and Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Elysia received her BA in art history and criticism from the University of California, San Diego and MA in art history from the University of New Mexico.

Jennifer Day

Jennifer Day

Head Registrar

2005–Present • 505-954-7275 • day@sarsf.org

Jennifer Day joined SAR in 2005. She came to the organization with a background in museum registration and completed a graduate degree in museum studies at the University of Florida. As SAR’s head registrar, she administers SAR’s collection management database at its Indian Arts Research Center (IARC), and handles documentation of acquisitions, object loans, and rights and reproductions. She has a passion for organizing collection data and making it easily accessible for staff and researchers. Jennifer particularly enjoys working with members of Native American communities to improve documentation of items housed in the IARC collection.

Laura Elliff Cruz

Laura Elliff Cruz

Head of Collections

2008-2014, 2020–Present • 505-954-7270 • elliffcruz@sarsf.org

Since entering the museum field in 2004, Laura has a passion for collaborative indigenous collections care and working closely with originating communities on proper housing, handling, and access to collections. Laura re-joined the SAR staff in December 2020 and was the previous collections manager at IARC from 2008-2014. Prior to returning, Laura was head of the collections management department at the Denver Art Museum for nearly six years overseeing the daily care, including a major collections move project and numerous grant housing upgrades during her time there. Previous experience includes working as a collection consultant, as an on-line teacher through Northern States Conservation Center, four years at Fort Lewis College, Center of Southwest Studies, and she was a former Americorps VISTA volunteer. She has a BA in Anthropology from Illinois State University, a graduate certificate in Museum Collections Management and Care from George Washington University, and an MA in American Studies from the University of New Mexico.

Paloma López

Paloma López

Education Manager

2021–Present • 505-954-7273 • plopez@sarsf.org

Paloma López (she/her) grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. She received her BA in anthropology from Boston University and continued her studies in Puebla, Mexico. Upon returning to the United States, Paloma spent several years teaching in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2021, she received her MA in museum studies from The University of New Mexico. Before joining SAR, Paloma served as an AmeriCorps Member at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM where she developed curricula for the NHCC Art Museum. In her role as Education Manager, Paloma oversees the Native artist fellowship program, the IARC internship program, IARC volunteers, and community outreach efforts.

Daniel Kurnit

Daniel Kurnit

Administrative Assistant

2001–Present • 505-954-7272 • kurnit@sarsf.org

Daniel Kurnit has been the administrative assistant at the Indian Arts Research Center since 2001. He is a graduate of Santa Fe High School and a longtime Santa Fe resident. Prior to joining SAR, he worked at a number of local businesses, including the New Mexican and the Santa Fean. His writing and editing skills now come in handy for the various brochures, flyers, and other printed materials that the IARC regularly creates. His other responsibilities include record keeping, organizing mailings, and arranging tours and special events. He is also the point of first contact and answerer of questions for most visitors to the IARC.

Daniel received a BA, with a concentration in American history, from Bard College in Annandale, New York, and visits friends and family on the East Coast often.

Stephanie Riley

Stephanie Riley

Registrar for Cultural Projects

2017–Present • 505-954-7273 • riley@sarsf.org

Stephanie, a member of the Pueblo of Acoma tribe, received her BA in anthropology with an emphasis in cultural anthropology and museum studies from New Mexico State University. Prior to joining IARC, she worked for several years at the Sky City Cultural Center & Haakú Museum and at the New Mexico State University Museum. She has also completed a residency at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in collections management. Thanks to previous projects she has been involved in, Stephanie has become passionate about learning and sustaining traditional pottery-making practices.

Alexis Lucero

Alexis Lucero

Assistant Collections Manager

​2024–Present • 505-954-7239 • alucero@sarsf.org

Alexis Lucero is a member of the Pueblo of Isleta. She will receive her MA in museum studies from the University of New Mexico in May 2024 and holds a BA in American studies and a Five College Certificate in Native and Indigenous studies from Amherst College. Before joining SAR, Alexis worked at her Pueblo’s cultural center and Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. In 2023, Alexis completed the Native American Fellowship Program at the Peabody Essex Museum as a Native American Fellow in Collections Management. As a novice potter herself, Alexis has a passion for connecting Indigenous communities to their belongings through community research visits and collections management practices.

Dynette Chavez

Dynette Chavez

IARC Education Assistant

​2024–Present • 505-954-7243 • dchavez@sarsf.org

Dynette Chavez (she/her) is from the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Santo Domingo Pueblo. She received her BA in anthropology from Whittier College with an emphasis on tribal museums. She also received a certificate in museum studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). Dynette taught World History at the Santa Fe Indian School after she received her BA in 2021. She has gained professional museum experience by working at her tribe’s cultural center as the teaching aid for various language classes. Dynette will be assisting the education manager who oversees the IARC internship program and collaborates with community outreach.

SAR Press • press@sarsf.org
Miriam Kolar

Miriam Kolar

Managing Editor

2022–Present • 505-954-7261 • kolar@sarsf.org

Miriam Kolar, MFA & PhD, a Weatherhead Fellow at SAR (2016-2017), supports SAR Press authors and editors in honing the presentation and reach of their scholarly and creative publications. Informed by two decades leading scholarly programs and research projects, Dr. Kolar leverages multidisciplinary expertise to cultivate innovative book projects, drawing on experience as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities and former member of the Five College Digital Humanities Steering Committee. Currently an adjunct professor at Stanford University, in her research, Dr. Kolar studies human-sonic interrelationships across time and geography, integrating acoustical and auditory perceptual science methodologies in anthropological archaeology.

Dr. Kolar’s cultural acoustics research has generated new cross-disciplinary methodologies for studying sonic communication in archaeology. Since 2008, she has led archaeoacoustics fieldwork at the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site Chavín de Huántar in the Peruvian Andes, where she facilitates co-creative research in music archaeology and sound-sensing. Her Inca sonics project initiated soundscape science at the Inca administrative center Huánuco Pampa that she has continued to develop as a co-organizer of an aural heritage project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access (2019-2022). In 2022, she led the first archaeoacoustics fieldwork in Chauvet Cave as part of that UNESCO site’s multidisciplinary research project. Dr. Kolar has taught and served as an advisor to students at Stanford University, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Fitchburg State University, and California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where she served as the BFA Multi-focus Music Technologies program director while on faculty there from 2003-2006.

Catherine McElvain Library • (505) 954-7234 • library@sarsf.org
Katherine Wolf

Katherine Wolf

Librarian

2019–Present • 505-954-7234 • wolf@sarsf.org

Katherine manages the library at SAR, serving as librarian and archivist. Prior to SAR, she worked in special, public, and academic libraries in Southern California and Santa Fe. She holds a master’s in library and information science (MLIS) from San Jose State University and a BA in art history from the University of California, San Diego. She completed the Western Archives Institute in California and also has a certificate in digitization skills for libraries and cultural heritage institutions. At the UCLA California Rare Book School, she attended courses on special collections librarianship and Indigenous social justice.

Business Administration • (505) 954-7204 • busadmin@sarsf.org
Carol Sandoval

Carol Sandoval

Human Resources Director

1984–Present • 505-954-7221 • sandoval@sarsf.org

Carol, as Personnel Director, manages all functions involving personnel, payroll and benefits administration, and government compliance. Hired in 1984 as the accounts payable clerk in the School’s business office, Carol served in different capacities before taking over the personnel function in 1992. A native Santa Fean, Carol is a member of the National Society for Human Resource Managers (SHRM). She attended the University of New Mexico and is a certified professional in human resources through the Robert O. Anderson School of Management at University of New Mexico and SHRM.

Bob Lujan

Bob Lujan

Staff Accountant

2012–Present • 505-954-7222 • lujan@sarsf.org

As staff accountant, Bob’s primary responsibilities include accounts payable functions, maintenance of cash position including deposits and on-line banking activities, posting of monthly accounting entries, and other general accounting duties. Bob retired from the State of New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department after twenty-six and a half years in the field of accounting and financial management. He has a bachelor’s in accounting from New Mexico State University.

Bob is a native Santa Fean. He and his wife, Paula, have a son in college and a young daughter in elementary school.

Guest Services • (505) 954-7237

Carla Tozcano

Carla Tozcano

Guest Services Assistant

1997–Present • 505-954-7225 • tozcano@sarsf.org

Carla, originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, has lived in Santa Fe since 1994. She began working as the campus housekeeper at SAR in 1997. Carla moved on to academic programs assistant, and was promoted to her current position in the spring of 2004.

Carla enjoys being a mom and spending time with her daughter Arely.

Information Technology • (505) 954-7220
Physical Plant • (505) 954-7233 • rlujan@sarsf.org
Robert E. Lujan

Robert E. Lujan

Physical Plant Director

2015–Present • 505-954-7233 • rlujan@sarsf.org

Robert comes to us after nine years as the facility complex manager for the NM Department of Public Safety. His area of responsibility included the state police training facility off Cerrillos Rd. Before 2007, Robert worked for ten years for the NM General Services Department. including two years as facilities manager. He has lots of experience with both old buildings and guest relations. Robert is a native Santa Fean. He enjoys spending time with his wife, daughters and grandchild.

Isidro Gutierrez

Isidro Gutierrez

Groundskeeper

2004–Present
Isidro has a background in landscaping. He joined the staff in the physical plant division working with Ray Sweeney and Randy Montoya. He is responsible for maintaining much of the landscaping on campus and takes a great deal of pride in his work.

Isidro is married and has two children.