Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award: Catheryne Popovitch

Catheryne Popovitch, deputy director at the Illinois State Archives, is the 2023 recipient of the Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award celebrates and encourages early-career archivists who have completed archival work of broad merit, demonstrated significant promise of leadership, and performed commendable service to the archives profession.

During her nine years at the Illinois State Archives, Popovitch’s strong leadership has advanced professional education and resources for other archivists. In the past two years, she managed a federal grant at the State Archives to digitize 40,000 photographs from Eddie Winifred “Doc” Helm, one of the state’s leading African American photographers. She also serves as deputy coordinator for the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board’s (ISHRAB) grant program, which, under her leadership, received the 2020 Council of State Archivists (CoSA)–National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Award of Merit. Each year, the ISHRAB grant program provides grants to small archival institutions in Illinois and gives scholarships to nearly one hundred Illinois archivists.

In addition to her work with ISHRAB and the State Archives, Popovitch is also an active member of CoSA, where she sits on the Board of Directors and is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Committee and the SERI Steering Committee. She serves as co-chair of CoSA’s Education and Training Committee, which provides continuing education to hundreds of archivists nationwide. In 2019, Popovitch served on the program committee for SAA and CoSA’s Joint Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, and received CoSA’s President’s Award for her significant contribution.

As one recommender writes, “In her service to the state of Illinois and CoSA, Popovitch looks for more efficient and innovative ways to complete assignments and projects, promoting the organization’s mission. Her professionalism has earned her the respect of her colleagues and other professionals.” Another adds, “She is an outstanding leader in our profession, and a credit to every project she has been involved in.”

Established in 2011 and renamed in 2017, the award honors SAA Fellow and Past President Mark A. Greene.