Our Staff

Phone: 970-247-7359
Email: cjpillen@fortlewis.edu

Cory Pillen joined the Center of Southwest Studies as Director in 2022. In this position, she is responsible for the Center’s fiscal health and oversees its mission and long-term vision, which includes managing the Center’s operations and professional staff and working with staff and faculty to develop exhibitions, programming, and an institutional plan for collections management. In addition to serving as the Center’s Director, Cory is an Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art & Design and an affiliated faculty member in the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Fort Lewis College, where she has worked since 2014. Cory earned her Ph.D. in Art History, with a minor in U.S. History, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013. Her recent book project, which addresses posters produced by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s and early 1940s, was published by Routledge in March 2020 as a part of its Research in Art and Politics Series.

Phone: 970-247-7333
Email: eequinn@fortlewis.edu

Elizabeth Quinn MacMillan joined the Center of Southwest Studies team in 2016. As Curator, she is responsible for overseeing the care, management, and exhibition of the Center’s museum collections as well as fundraising and strategic planning for the program. Liz supervises the Center's undergraduate interns and student-workers for the museum and gallery, providing mentorship and professional development. Supporting Fort Lewis College’s strategic initiatives, she also works with faculty and staff to integrate museum collections into academic courses and promote their use for experiential curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities for students. Liz has worked in the museum field for fifteen years and holds a B.A. in History from Washington College in Chestertown, MD, and an M.A. in Public History from Loyola University Chicago.

Phone: 970-247-7126
Email: Kendziorski_N@fortlewis.edu

Nik Kendziorski has worked with the Center of Southwest Studies since 2000 and joined the staff full-time in 2006. As Archives Manager, Nik oversees the care and management of archival collections including photographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, oral histories, and digital archival materials. Nik connects researchers with the Center’s archival collections, providing access and support to the Fort Lewis College community as well as the general public. He supervises interns, work-study students, and volunteers working hands-on in the archives, and collaborates with faculty from various academic departments to integrate archival materials into coursework. Nik has worked in the public history, museum, and archives field for twenty-five years and completed a B.A. in History from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI, and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Wyoming.

Phone: 970-247-7030
Email: arcao@fortlewis.edu

Amy Cao joined the Center of Southwest Studies team in 2018. As Collections Manager, she works hands-on with the museum collections: processing acquisitions, performing preventative conservation, prepping art and objects for storage, research, and exhibition, and everything in between. As NAGPRA Specialist, Amy coordinates the Center’s and FLC’s NAGPRA projects, serves to fulfill their ethical and legal requirements, and supports the Center’s commitment to an integrated and collaborative approach to working with Indigenous collections and communities. Amy also facilitates academic use of the collections by providing curriculum and research support and training undergraduate student interns in all aspects of collections care and management. Amy has worked in the museum field for over eight years and holds a B.A. in Archaeology and Cultural Anthropology from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, and an M.A. in Museum Studies from Southern University at New Orleans.

Phone: 970-382-6951
Email: ghgray@fortlewis.edu

As a Fort Lewis College alumna (‘08), Gretchen Gray returned to the Center of Southwest Studies in 2019. In her role as Archives Specialist, Gretchen manages the College’s institutional records and is responsible for maintaining appropriate retention schedules in compliance with legal regulations. She oversees the transfer of historically significant archives to the Center’s permanent collections. As Library Specialist, Gretchen assists in the management of the Delaney Research Library, providing access to students, faculty, and other researchers. She also supervises and trains undergraduate student interns and student workers in all aspects of archival arrangement, processing, and management. Gretchen has worked in cultural heritage management and archives for more than ten years and holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology & Human Services from Fort Lewis College and is close to completing her M.A. in Cultural Heritage Management and Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Digital Curation from Johns Hopkins University.

Phone: 970-382-6923
Email: rmmcgaw@fortlewis.edu

Rachel McGaw has worked as the Administrative Assistant for the Center of Southwest Studies since 2022. Rachel provides behind-the-scenes support for all Center activities and is the primary contact for reserving space for academic and public programs and meetings. She has worked in an administrative capacity off and on for eight years. Rachel holds a B.S. in Human Services with a High-Risk Youth concentration and a B.A. in History from Metropolitan State University of Denver, as well as an M.Ed. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Arizona State University.