Gary T. Johnson, Director of the Krebs Center for the Humanities and Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Since 2019, Gary T. Johnson has been teaching Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lake Forest College. Before that, he was a partner at two global law firms as well as an English solicitor. He also served for 16 years as President of the Chicago History Museum. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.A. in history from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a B.A. in history and political science from Yale. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts from Lake Forest College and recognition as the Chicago Cultural Alliance's Cultural Champion for 2023.
Dr. Melissa Rovner, Associate Director of the Krebs Center, Lecturer in History and Art History, and HUMAN Fellow
Melissa Rovner began as a practicing Architect, drawn to how the built environment shapes social life and community development. She earned her PhD in Architecture History and Theory from UCLA, where a Teaching Innovation Grant sparked her turn to urban humanities. As a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, she co-founded the Academic Consortium for Chicago Preservation and built the interactive Mapping Chicago Preservation resource. A Digital Humanities Curatorial Fellowship at the Chicago History Museum brought her to Lake Forest College, where she teaches Public History, Museum Studies, and Architecture History.
Amy Roby, Krebs Center Property Manager
Amy Roby joined Lake Forest College in 2021 in the Department of Music and has since expanded her role to include support of the Entrepreneurship program and HUMAN grant, as well as managing the Krebs Center for the Humanities. Prior to her time in academia, she dedicated a significant period to raising two remarkable humans after building a career in corporate sales, marketing, and communications. In her free time, she is an enthusiastic mosaicist and remains in constant pursuit of the perfect sourdough boule.
Ann Roberts, James D. Vail Professor Emerita and Art Historian
Ann M. Roberts taught at Lake Forest College in the Department of Art and Art History, from which she retired as the James D. Vail Professor of Art History. A specialist in late medieval and early modern art, she taught courses on many topics for 26 years, including surveys of European art in the Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance periods and thematic courses on topics like Landscape and Representation, Women, Art and Society, and Domesticity in the Renaissance. She also served for several years as an Associate Dean of the Faculty. Her research spans both Northern and Southern Renaissance art.
