Colleen Shogan

Dr. Colleen J. Shogan served as the 11th Archivist of the United States, the first woman in American history appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to lead the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). A noted author and political scientist, Shogan is deeply committed to civics education and prioritized sharing the records of the National Archives to a wider audience. Under her leadership, NARA launched numerous strategic initiatives to enhance services and make its holdings more accessible, both in-person and online, with the goal of cultivating public participation and strengthening our nation's democracy.

Prior to becoming Archivist, Shogan served in several cultural heritage leadership roles. She was senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association, worked in the United States Senate, and served as a senior executive at the Library of Congress and its Congressional Research Service. She was the vice chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission and currently serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.

A native of the Pittsburgh area, she holds a BA in political science from Boston College and a PhD in American politics from Yale University, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow. Shogan was the 2024 recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert Humphrey Award for outstanding public service.

Shogan is currently the CEO of In Pursuit, the signature history-based civics initiative of More Perfect, a nonpartisan alliance of more than 40 presidential centers and hundreds of civic leaders and organizations that invites Americans to strengthen democracy in five key areas. She is also a senior fellow in civics education at Stand Together, an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University, and a practitioner senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

In her spare time, Shogan has published eight mystery novels in her award-winning Washington Whodunit series featuring amateur sleuth Kit Marshall. Stabbing in the Senate, her debut novel, received the Next Generation Indie Book Award gold medal in 2016. Larceny at the Library won the 2021 bronze medal for mystery at the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs).