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Madison, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) is pleased to announce the most recent addition to its Board of Curators (BOC). Janan Najeeb, a founding member and the current president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, was elected to the board earlier this month.

“We are thrilled to welcome Janan into the Society’s governing body,” said Christian Overland, Ruth and Hartley Barker Director & CEO for the Wisconsin Historical Society. “Janan’s background serving on numerous committees and community boards demonstrates her commitment to strengthening her community’s social fabric and building a more tolerant culture in Wisconsin. The values and perspectives she brings to the table lend themselves to the Society’s ongoing effort to expand inclusivity in the public history space.”

A trained microbiologist, Najeeb is affiliated with the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, the Mitchell International Airport Meditation Room, the Committee for Interfaith Understanding and Milwaukee’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. She serves as director of the Islamic Resource Center in Milwaukee which hosts Wisconsin’s premier Islamic public lending library. Najeeb also founded the Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival, a trailblazing celebration of the cinema arts, in 2015.

Najeeb is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities across Wisconsin and has served as an adjunct professor at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. She was named as a “Leader Making a Difference” by Wisconsin Woman Magazine.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to serve on the Board of Curators,” said Najeeb. “The Society has the enormous responsibility of acting as the state’s memory and foremost storyteller, and it is important that the work we do cultivates inclusion and represents Wisconsin’s diverse culture. I look forward to supporting the Society in its mission to collect, preserve, and share stories with these values as our guidepost.”  

Najeeb is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the International Institute of Wisconsin’s World Citizen Award, the Wisconsin Community Fund’s Grantee of the Year Award, CAIR’s (Council on American Islamic Relations) national award for activism, ACLU’s Special Recognition Award, UW-Milwaukee’s Scholar in Residence award, and more. She is married and is the mother of 5 children.

For more information about the Wisconsin Historical Society visit wisconsinhistory.org.

About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.