Renowned Presidential Historian Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky Named Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky as Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library. Dr. Chervinsky is one of the nation’s most respected presidential scholars and will join the Washington Library after serving as a senior non-residential Fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University and a historian at the White House Historical Association. She will assume this new role on July 22, 2024.

Photographs of Dr. Chervinsky and the George Washington Presidential Library are available here.

“The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon has established itself as the preeminent center for the study of George Washington, and we are pleased to have a historian of Dr. Chervinsky’s stature at the helm,” said Margaret Nichols, the 23^rd Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. “Since its opening in 2013, the Library has been instrumental in fostering scholarship on the Founding Era of the United States, along with delivering innovative educational programming. Dr. Chervinsky’s knowledge and expertise of American history will ensure the continued advancement of the Association’s educational mission to the highest standards.”

Mount Vernon President & CEO Douglas Bradburn said, “Lindsay Chervinksy is a talented historian with sterling credentials and a thought-provoking author who brings insight to the crucial role of the presidency. She has a special connection to the George Washington Presidential Library as she was a recipient of the Library’s James C. Rees Fellowship on the Leadership of George Washington, which enabled her to finish her dissertation while in residence at Mount Vernon. I can’t wait to see the energy and innovation she brings upon her return to President Washington’s home and Library as she helps guide the institution into the next decade.”

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to return to Mount Vernon as the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library,” said Dr. Chervinsky. “My career is a testament to the Library’s opportunities for students, teachers, and scholars. I’m excited about leading the Washington Library into its second decade, and I look forward to sharing George Washington’s leadership, civic virtue, and commitment to democratic institutions with the American people at this pivotal moment in our nation’s history."

Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky is a historian of the presidency, political culture, and U.S. government institutions. Previously, she was a senior non-residential fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University and a White House Historical Association historian. She received her B.A. in history and political science from George Washington University and completed her master’s and Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. She has been awarded fellowships at the Library of Congress, the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies, the International Center for Jefferson Studies, the Society of Cincinnati, and Mount Vernon.

Dr. Chervinsky is the author of the award-winning The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, which was published by Belknap / Harvard University Press in April 2020, and the co-editor of Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture published by University of Virginia Press in February 2023. Her third book, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic, will be published by Oxford University Press on September 5, 2024.

She has been published in the Washington Post, TIME, USA Today, CNN.com, The Bulwark, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast, and numerous others. She is a regular source of American history for outlets like The BBC, Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, CBC News, and many more. She has recently appeared on CBS News, Face the Nation, and CNN. 

The George Washington Presidential Library sponsors impactful forums in early American history and civic engagement, manages a prominent research fellowship program, houses an extensive collection of manuscripts, maps, and books, organizes expansive digital offerings, and annually hosts thousands of people at public events and leadership programs.

Reporting to Mount Vernon’s President & CEO and serving as an integral member of the executive leadership team at one of America’s most storied public history sites, the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library is charged with fostering scholarship surrounding George Washington and his era, leading impactful academic and public programs, and growing the breadth, depth, and significance of the Washington Library collection. Chervinsky will chart the course for the Library’s second decade, including Mount Vernon’s programming around the significant anniversaries recognizing America’s 250th in 2026 and George Washington’s 300th Birthday in 2032. 

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