Lori Ann Terjesen, Ph.D., serves as Chief Programs Officer at the National Women’s History Museum and is a member of the Museum’s executive leadership team. She leads the strategic vision and implementation of the Museum’s education initiatives, exhibitions, and public programs, guiding interdisciplinary teams and partnerships that expand the reach and impact of women’s history nationwide. Her work is grounded in the belief that women’s history is essential to a more complete and equitable understanding of the American past and focuses on addressing systemic gaps in historical narratives while empowering learners of all ages to engage more fully with history and civic life.

A museum educator and nonprofit leader with 25 years of experience, Lori Ann has held positions at a range of nationally recognized cultural institutions, including the Ringling Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Montclair Art Museum, and the Newark Museum of Art. Prior to joining the National Women’s History Museum, she served as Director of Education at the Children’s Science Center in Fairfax, Virginia, where she led the development and expansion of onsite and outreach programs serving the region’s diverse audiences.

Lori Ann holds a Ph.D. in art history and museum studies from Case Western Reserve University, an M.A. in museum studies from Seton Hall University, a post-baccalaureate certificate in nonprofit organization management, and a B.A. in art history from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has served in appointed leadership roles at the state and national level, including on the Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board, is a graduate of the American Association for State and Local History’s History Leadership Institute, and was recognized as a Leadership Center for Excellence “Forty Under 40” honoree.

She is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, the American Historical Association, and the Organization of American Historians, and was recently named to the American Association for State and Local History’s Women’s History Affinity Committee.