The chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Shelly Lowe, has left her position “at the direction of President Trump”.
Agency chairs are appointed for four-year terms. However, the New York Times reported that Michael McDonald, the NEH’s general counsel, was named the agency’s acting chairman on March 12.
“I can confirm that, at the direction of President Trump, Shelly Lowe has departed her position as chair of N.E.H.,” a spokesman for the agency, Paula Wasley, said in a statement to the Times. Wasley said McDonald would serve as acting chairman “until such time as the president nominates and the Senate confirms a new N.E.H. chairman.”
Dr. Lowe (Navajo) had been a member of the National Council on the Humanities between 2015 and 2022, and the first Native American to lead the agency. She was nominated by President Joe Biden in October 2021 and her role was confirmed by the Senate in February 2022.
The news of Dr. Lowe’s departure follows the resignation of Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment of the Arts, on January 17, a few days before the inauguration of President Trump’s second term.
On March 13, Lowe’s biography page on the NEH website resulted in a 403 error, which meant access to it was barred. An older version of the webpage, archived on the Wayback Machine, included details about Lowe’s Navajo heritage, pst senior roles in higher education at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Arizona, as well as her leadership roles and board positions at the National Indian Education Association and the National Museum of the American Indian.
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