Mary Downs Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc, Us

Cultural heritage and preservation project coordination; event and volunteer management; external grant review.

• Oversaw Division’s grant-making for preservation of and access to global cultural heritage at libraries, museums, and archives across the country. • Developed partnerships, programs, and events to build capacity of cultural heritage institutions. Built and cultivated institutional networks.• Led Native American Working Group in making agency policy recommendations around programming, resource development, and outreach to Native American communities.• Managed and awarded Preservation Assistance Grants to help small and mid-size institutions build capacity in the preventative conservation of collections.• Represented agency at meetings. Organized and presented conference sessions. • Co-led agency’s emergency cultural preservation initiatives. Served as member of Whiting Foundation’s funders circle to address global heritage protection in times of crisis. • Served on U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee in response to HR 1493, “Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property” legislation.Key Partnerships• Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Rescue Initiative (Training cultural heritage professionals)• National Science Foundation Grant Program ($4M awarded to document endangered languages)• First Nations Development Institute (Grant program for Native American language immersion programs)

• Identified needs, trends, and best practices related to education, preservation, and cultural heritage projects for the museum and library communities. Developed appropriate resource materials. • Managed education, preservation, and cultural heritage research projects and data collection to address mission-related research needs.

• Collected and analyzed data and prepared reports on the implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Developed grant program guidelines. Monitored and evaluated all grant disbursements. • Provided technical assistance to museums, Federal agencies, and Native American tribes to NAGPRA compliance.

InstitutionsCollege of the Northern Frontier (Tijuana, Mexico)University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)American Academy in Rome (Rome, Italy)Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)• Designed course materials, readings and exams for university-level courses; supervised and trained teaching assistants; trained students in art history, archaeology, Latin and Italian.

• Managed scientific and logistical aspects of cultural resource projects. Trained students in excavation techniques. Coordinated with host countries. Developed standards and oversaw digital record management.

• Coordinated production, including development of all editorial standards, for all cartographic and textual materials for first contemporary atlas of the ancient world.

Ba, Classical Civilization

Phd, Classical Archaeology

Activities and Societies: Fulbright Spanish Government Dissertation Grant (Madrid)

Master Of Arts - Ma, Classics