Sarah Jones Weicksel is the Executive Director of the American Historical Association, the largest membership association of historians in the world. She has previously worked as the Association’s director of research and publications, and as a project historian at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. She also serves on the National Archives Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee. 

Weicksel earned her BA from Yale, MA in American material culture from the University of Delaware, MA in history from the University of Chicago in 2009, and PhD in history from the University of Chicago in 2017.

Julia Brookins is Senior Program Analyst, Teaching and Learning as well as TPS Program Analyst for the American Historical Association. Her team develops initiatives to advance history in education and public life, designing and implementing professional development and networking programs that bring together history teachers and faculty across institutions.

Brookins earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard, her MA in history from the University of Chicago in 2003, and her PhD in History from the University of Chicago in 2013. 

Alumni of the Division of the Social Sciences are characterized by Chicago’s deep commitment to scientific analysis, methodological innovation, and the use of theory to extend the explanatory and predictive power of social research. Whether an MA or PhD graduate (or both), each takes those values into careers in the academy and in a broad range of sectors including banking and finance, technology, and social technology, consulting and market research, health fields, and government/policymaking, among others. 

SSD’s Dialogo podcast brings alumni into conversation with Paul Poast, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Deputy Dean for Doctoral Education, and Kelly Pollock, Dean of Students. Each season will feature alumni with careers in a particular field or industry.