We are excited to welcome Steven Gentry, collections archivist for the University Archives.

Steven grew up in Columbia, Maryland, graduating from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in history. After college, he worked at Howard County Public Library as a circulation clerk, at which time he learned to truly appreciate all the good work public librarians do. He attended Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, where he received a Master of Science in Library and Information Science with a focus in archives management in 2018. In 2019, Steven joined the team at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library as a processing project archivist, where he has been for the last six years.

As an archivist at Iowa, Steven looks forward to collaborating with colleagues to wrangle our backlogs, increase access to the University Archives, and participate in other projects that will meaningfully impact our users.

“I particularly enjoy the connections we make with others—whether with coworkers, researchers, or even the historical agents named in the materials we handle each day, “ says Steven.

When not tackling the archival backlog, you can find Steven and his fiancée Timi indulging in TV shows like “Desperate Housewives” or “Below Deck.” He also works on his cocktail-making and cooking game, claiming to make a mean chicken tikka masala pizza (which we are eager to try). But he is also looking for fun things to discover in the Iowa City / Cedar Rapids area. Got an idea of something he should explore? Let him know!