Elizabeth Brand Monroe, Thomas Ehrlich award for excellence in service learning

Elizabeth Brand Monroe Associate Professor of History Director of Public History Program School of Liberal Arts University Graduate School IUPUI

Interim President Gerald Bepko, Monroe and IUPUI Acting Chancellor William Plater at the Founders Day ceremony

Monroe’s mentorship of graduate students in service learning internships has had a profound impact on dozens of nonprofit organizations around Indiana—from large institutions like Conner Prairie and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, to smaller ones, such as Historic Madison, Inc. and the Indiana Medical History Museum.

Monroe and her students have helped many organizations to accomplish things that might not have otherwise been possible, such as securing funding for projects, preserving and cataloging priceless artifacts, completing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, conducting oral histories, organizing tours of historically significant sites, holding workshops, publishing useful guides and handbooks, and much more. Jon C. Smith, who directs the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, describes the impact of the Cornelius O’Brien internships, which are administered through Monroe’s program, on his organization: “As a state government agency, we face continual budgetary and staffing limitations. Cornelius O’Brien Internships have helped us meet these demands by providing capable young people to work part time at no charge to our office.”

The number of IUPUI public history interns in the field at any given moment has tripled since 1994. Monroe, however, has refused to let the program’s growth turn her position into a desk job. She is committed to her hands-on style of leadership. “Where am I in all of this?” she asked. “Right beside the students. I clean artifacts, move collections, measure rooms, edit booklets, research and write exhibit scripts, introduce speakers, participate in workshops and generally lead by doing. It gives the students a chance to see me actually doing public history and interacting with local professionals, and it gives me a chance to get to know the students better.”

Elizabeth Brand Monroe
Associate Professor of History
Director of Public History Program
School of Liberal Arts
University Graduate School
IUPUI

An impassioned style of leadership and a vision for the importance of service learning has led to many triumphs in the career of Elizabeth Monroe. Those triumphs have translated to her students and to many nonprofit organizations across the state of Indiana.