As a faculty member in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Judy Liskin-Gasparro taught courses in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and Spanish language. She directed the elementary and intermediate Spanish program (1993–2006) and co-directed the interdisciplinary doctoral program in second language acquisition (2000–2016). Her research interests include the development of second language speaking skills in classroom and study abroad contexts, oral proficiency assessment, and program evaluation and the assessment of student learning outcomes. In addition to her publications in these areas, she gave many presentations and workshops on foreign language program evaluation and on linking outcomes assessment and program evaluation to strategies for improving language instruction. She is also the co-author of college-level Spanish textbooks. In her retirement, she is learning Yiddish, and she has been able to offer her professional expertise as a volunteer pedagogical consultant at the Yiddish Book Center and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Jan Steyn is Associate Professor of Instruction in Literary Translation and French at the University of Iowa, where he serves as Director of Graduate Studies for French, Linguistics, and Translation; Program Director of the MFA in Literary Translation; and Provost’s Fellow in Artificial Intelligence (2025–27). A scholar-translator and teacher, he translates from Afrikaans, French, and Dutch into English, linking the craft of translation to questions of voice, ethics, memory, and global citizenship. He has lived and taught in Africa, Europe, and North America, and regularly mentors students working between languages and cultures. Steyn is editor of Translation: Crafts, Contexts, Consequences (Cambridge University Press, 2024). At Iowa he teaches on world literature, translation, and language in the age of AI, helping students develop thoughtful, responsible practices across languages. He is honored to support the Anne Frank Initiative’s mission to elevate youth voices, deepen historical understanding, and foster inclusive, humanities-based learning across campus and community.

Tamar Bernfeld is an assistant director in the Center for Teaching (CfT) where she works with undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty to support effective teaching at the University of Iowa. Among her projects in the CfT, Tamar leads the Students as Partners program, which pairs undergraduate students with faculty to bring student voice and student perspectives into course design and implementation. At the University of Iowa, Tamar has taught courses in English as a Second Language (ESL), Rhetoric, as well as Approaches to Teaching Writing and Language and Learning in the College of Education. Currently Tamar teaches a First Gen Hawks Seminar and a General Education course, World Englishes, in Linguistics. Her scholarly interests include writing pedagogy and language ideology in educational spaces. Anne Frank's writing resonates with Tamar, who believes that storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to reach people, connect with our shared human experience, and develop awareness and empathy.

Kay E. Ramey, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Educational Psychology in the University of Iowa’s College of Education. She earned her PhD in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University, an interdisciplinary MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Psychology and Art Theory and Practice also from Northwestern. Her work focuses on centering youth voices and designing learning environments that support youth agency, interest and identity development, and real-world skills, such as adaptive problem-solving and resilience. She is particularly interested in how young people learn through making and in the material, spatial, and sociocultural aspects of learning. She sees in Anne Frank an exemplary story of youth learning and resilience and a template for elevating youth voices and encouraging self-expression through the creation of shared artifacts.

Kevin Zihlman has a been a full-time staff member at the University of Iowa since 2010. Kevin graduated from the University of Iowa in 2005 with a Master of Arts degree. For fourteen years, Kevin was an Assistant Athletic Director in the University of Iowa Athletics Department. Over the last year, Kevin transitioned to a role in the Research Integrity and Security Office housed within the Office of the Vice President for Research. Kevin believes that the University of Iowa and its many world-renowned programs can enlighten those many youths who live only a few miles away from its campus. Kevin has worked with AFI the past three years on establishing an annual field trip for the Clear Creek Amana 8th grade class to the UI campus for a morning of engagement with the AFI and Anne Frank.

Kimberly Musial Datchuk (she/her) builds programs and educational opportunities with creativity, collaboration, and curiosity in mind as the curator of learning & engagement at the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art. Prior to that, she held a dual position as visiting assistant professor in art education at the University of Iowa and assistant curator of special projects at the Stanley. She has curated several exhibitions that center the work of women and the struggle for social justice, topics which have deep connections to the Anne Frank Initiative. Her research and curatorial interests include institutional critique and the intersection of art, gender, sexuality, and technology, particularly in fin-de-siècle France. She has a doctorate in art history, with a specialty in nineteenth-century European art. She has presented her research throughout the United States, as well as France, England, and Poland.