Penelope M. Skalnik

As Manager of Administration for the Committee on the Study of Religion, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Penelope Skalník (she/her) provides senior administrative leadership and serves as a strategic partner to Faculty Chairs. She oversees administrative operations, leads and develops local staff, coordinates cross-functional support from FAS and University teams, and advises on organizational priorities and resource decisions. Her responsibilities include strategic stewardship of space, grants, donor funds, delegated contracts, and locally managed endowments; leadership of major administrative initiatives; coordination of divisional, School, and University priorities; and representation of the units on institutional committees and working groups. Previously, she spent 16 years as the Events Planner at Harvard's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, where she was responsible for an extensive portfolio of dynamic academic and social events. 

She holds an M.A. in Gastronomy and certifications in wine and cheese studies from Boston University, a B.A. in Drama and Russian Studies from Vassar College, and she was the first foreign student to study Costume Design at the Moscow Art Theatre School (Школа-студия MXAT).

Education:

M.A., Gastronomy, Boston University
B.A., Drama and Russian Studies, Vassar College
Certificate, Costume Design, Moscow Art Theatre School (Школа-студия MXAT)

Languages: 

Czech
Russian
French (basic)

Publications:

“Honey & Nectars.” The Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia, edited by Karen Bescherer Metheny and Mary C. Beaudry. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2015, pp 255.

Reviewer: Food and Culture: A Reader, 3rd edition, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny Van Esterik. Routledge, 2012.