During the 2009 Annual Meeting, the ARCE membership elected into office a new Board of Governors, and with it, a new president.

Egyptologist Dr. Emily Teeter is Research Associate and Coordinator of Special Exhibits for the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. Dr. Teeter has been an ARCE member since 1974, and credits much of her professional development to the relationships and resources provided by the organization.

Q: What does being an ARCE member mean to you?
A: ARCE means a lot to me as an Egyptologist because it is the driving force that motivates and sponsors work in Egypt. Anyone who is interested in Egypt should be interested in ARCE. I remember going to my first ARCE meeting, seeing the giants of Egyptology, and being in that environment where everyone is talking about their discoveries and work. It was very exciting and inspiring.

Q: How did ARCE's Fellowship Program impact you?
A: ARCE is responsible for my career. When working on my dissertation, I was sidetracked with work and travel. I realized that if I didn't finish my dissertation, all that hard work for years would have been for nothing. Without ARCE's grant to travel to Egypt and work on my dissertation, I would have never finished. Without ARCE, I would not be where I am today.

Q: ARCE plays an important stateside role as the primary professional organization for North American Egyptologists and scholars of Egypt. But how would you describe ARCE's organizational presence within Egypt itself?
A: It's hard to overstate the impact that ARCE is having in Egypt, from setting up the first ever Registrar's department in the Egyptian Museum to conducting the ground water monitoring project in Luxor. Yet ARCE has managed to leave a subtle footprint, working collaboratively and collegially with the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt.

The work that ARCE is doing with American funds—governmental, institutional, and individual—is really making a difference in Egypt, not just with scholarship and research, but with what I think is one of the great legacies of ARCE: training the next generation of Egyptian scholars and professionals. Sharing techniques in archaeology, conservation, and site management is preparing the next generation to be the guardians of Egyptian cultural history.