Dr. Jane Kamensky joined Monticello in January 2024 from Harvard University, where she served since 2015 as the Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History and the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Dr. Kamensky is the author or co-author of seven books spanning four centuries of American history, including the prize-winning A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley (2016). She is also a member of the author team on A People and a Nation, one of the preeminent textbooks in American history, and the co-editor, with Edward G. Gray, of The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution. Her latest book, Candida Royalle and the Sexual Revolution, was published in March 2024.

A principal investigator for the NEH-DoE funded social studies initiative Educating for American Democracy, Dr. Kamensky brings a commitment to civic education and engagement that deeply aligns with Monticello’s mission.

An eminent American historian, Dr. Kamensky is uniquely qualified to advance the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s mission of preservation and education and to lead Monticello’s work at the forefront of national and global dialogues. Her appointment came as Monticello prepares to honor the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence in 2026.