Getting to know the Executive Director
On May 1, the Michigan Humanities Council will officially welcome former board member Erik Nordberg as our new executive director. Nordberg joins us from Michigan Technological University, where he most recently served as the University Archivist and Head of Archives. Here are some fun facts about our new executive director:
What books have you read recently?
I really enjoyed Annie’s Ghosts by Detroit native Steve Luxenberg. Perhaps not surprisingly, as this is the Michigan Humanities Council's selection for 2013-14 Great Michigan Read. But the book was particularly interesting to me as an archivist, following the author's search in archives and public records for information about an aunt he never knew he had. It was a genuine page-turner and a great selection for the Council's community reading initiative.
I'm currently reading Redevelopment and Race by June Manning Thomas, which was recently republished by Wayne State University Press, and provides a detailed exploration of the various planning and development initiatives which have shaped the city of Detroit over the last century. I also just started The Lure of the North Woods: Cultivating Tourism in the Upper Midwest, by Aaron Shapiro and just released by the University of Minnesota Press. It's a fascinating study about the push to develop tourism in areas of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota following the collapse of timber, mining and commercial fishing.
Which Michigan season do you enjoy most?
That's a tough one. Having lived in the Upper Peninsula for 18 years, I have learned to appreciate the long winters and heavy snowfall. Even if you don't like skiing, snowshoeing or snowmobiling, it is humbling to watch Mother Nature put on a real four-day blizzard. Copper Country seasons don't usually include much of anything we might call spring, so we're looking forward to having a season between the snow melting and summer. But I probably like fall the most. Beyond Michigan's beautiful fall colors, there is a smell in air in the fall that reminds me of hay rides, cider mills and enjoying time outdoors with family and friends. I can't imaging living somewhere that doesn't have the change in seasons.
What is your favorite summer activity?
My wife and I enjoy camping. We've graduated from tents and air mattresses to a pop-up camper, and we've enjoyed traveling to Michigan's many beautiful state parks. Some make fun of us for not "roughing it" in a pup tent in some remote part of the woods, but we have so much fun sitting around the campfire with people we meet along the way. And those young backcounty campers must not appreciate hot showers and flush toilets as much as I do...
What is your favorite sport?
I don't actually play organized sports - unless you count board games or chasing my three cats around the place.But growing up in the Detroit area, I forged a lifelong love for hockey. It began with the Red Wings, particularly the games at Olympia when I was a kid. We were marooned for a couple of years in the "basketball belt" around South Bend, Ind., but managed to feed our hockey jones at Notre Dame, usually rooting for the visiting team. Over the last two decades, however, we've become committed Michigan Tech Husky fans. We've been season ticket holders, traveled to see the team play on the road, and even volunteered with the Blue Line Club booster organization. My wife is a two-time alumnus and I hope to complete my doctorate at Tech, so it's hard to imagine us changing allegiance any time soon (sorry Sparty). And with the realignment of the college hockey leagues, we look forward to seeing the Huskies play at Ferris, Bowling Green, and in Ann Arbor and East Lansing on occasion. Go Tech!
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