About the Bloggers
The NDC Bloggers (pictured from left to right): Neil Carmichael, Don McIlwain, David Mengel, AJ Daverede, Sheryl Shenberger, and Madeline Proctor
David J. Mengel
David is a graduate of James Madison University and started his career at the National Archives in 1991. He has worked in records declassification, the NARA FOIA office, the Office of Presidential Libraries, the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, and as Chief of the Special Access and FOIA Staff. During his career he supervised review of the Nixon White House Tapes, was one of three members of a NARA Panel established to determine if current technology could recover the 18 ½ minute gap, participated on a team established to review 9/11 Commission records for release in 2009, and worked as the Project Manger on the National Declassification Center Business Process Re-Engineering project. He is currently the NARA Liaison to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP), and Deputy Director of the National Declassification Center.
Don C. McIlwain
Since March 2002, Don McIlwain has served as a supervisory archivist in the Initial Processing and Declassification Division at NARA. He is currently the supervisor for the Classified FOIA/Mandatory Declassification Review team as well as for independent projects within the Division. Additionally, he serves as a team member on the Program Management Team of the National Declassification Center. Previously he served as subject area specialist dealing with the accessioning and declassification of records pertaining to the foreign relations of the United States. Don has also worked as an archivist in the Initial Processing and Declassification Division, Textual Projects Division, and Center for Electronic Records. He began his NARA career in 1990 as an archives technician working in the Records Declassification Division. He has served as an instructor for several courses including the NARA Lifecycle Briefing for Agency Reviewers, the Modern Archives Institute, and Introduction to Archives for Archives Technicians.
Sheryl J. Shenberger
Sheryl J. Shenberger was named as the first director of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) National Declassification Center (NDC) effective June 7, 2010. She comes to the National Archives from the intelligence community where she was most recently with the CIA Declassification Center, responsible for its 25-year review and referral program and for coordinating government-wide review of Presidential Library referrals through the Remote Archives Capture (RAC) program. From 2003 through 2006, she served as branch chief for the CIA declassification efforts at NARA where she was responsible for directing CIA review efforts and collaborating with NARA to improve declassification processes. Prior to working in the declassification field, Ms. Shenberger worked in the CIA Counter Terrorism Center (2001 – 2003), the CIA Crime and Narcotics Center (2000 – 2001), and the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency (previously known as NIMA and NPIC; 1988 – 2000).
Ms. Shenberger is a graduate of Villanova University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1979, and of North Carolina State University where she received a Master of Arts degree in English in 1983.
Neil Carmichael
Neil Carmichael is the Indexing and Declassification Review Director responsible for indexing of referred and exempted documents and systematic review of federal records. Neil began his career at the National Archives in 1992 as an Archives Technician performing systematic declassification review and since time has held various positions and responsibilities for the declassification of federal records within the National Archives.
Neil’s previous work includes serving in the United States Army, Department of State and the Information Security Oversight Office where he worked in the Policy Directorate as a program analyst. In 2002, Mr. Carmichael reviewed and drafted major sections of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Report on the Declassification and Public Disclosure of NATO Documents, 1966-1972 and additionally worked with NATO Archivist to establish a process for declassification of NATO Subject Files, and continues to work with the NATO Archives Committee with the process for review, declassification and public disclosure of NATO Subject Files and Registered Documents. Neil holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in History from the University Maryland University College in College Park, Maryland.
A. J. Daverede
A 1984 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, A. J. Daverede served as a Navy Supply Corps officer for 12 years prior to becoming an Archives Technician in NARA’s Initial Processing and Declassification Division in 1996. Since that time he has served as an Archives Specialist team leader in the same unit, specializing in Navy records in particular and military records in general. A supervisory archivist since 2004, A. J. has performed accessioning duties and established a quality assurance effort for the then operative National Declassification Initiative. In the National Declassification Center, A. J. is the Production Division Director responsible for workflow management, quality assurance, and interagency referrals for the Center.
A. J. has a Bachelor of Science degree in English from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Arts degree in Military Studies from American Military University in 2002.
Madeline Proctor
Madeline began working at NARA in 1991 as an archivist at the Washington National Records Center. She continued her career at NARA in both the Center for Electronic Records and the Digital Strategy and Services office before joining the Initial Processing and Declassification Division (NDC) as a Supervisory Archivist in January 2006. Madeline is responsible for the declassification of the Civil record groups and is also the archival subject matter expert for both the Civilian and Military record groups. Prior to coming to NARA, Madeline worked as an Information Technology Specialist at the National Library of Medicine, NIH.
