Assistant Archivist for Records Services, Washington DC, Dr. Michael Kurtz, announced his intention to retire from the National Archives and Records Administration March 3, 2011, after 37 years of service to become a visiting professor at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Kurtz began his tenure at the National Archives as an archives technician working in records declassification. He subsequently worked in a variety of archival and management positions in several of the Agency’s major program areas.
In addition, Dr. Kurtz served as the first chair of the Interagency Working Gro
up tasked with implementing the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, which resulted in the release of eight million pages of previously classified information. Dr. Kurtz also represented the National Archives for many years on the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, which is the appellate authority for classification challenges and mandatory declassification requests.
Dr. Kurtz is joining the faculty of the College of Information Studies (iSchool) at the University of Maryland where he will teach in the College’s Archives, Records
and Information Management program. Dr. Kurtz will also work with other faculty members in developing new course offerings and program initiatives.