1989 - 1994: Chairman, Department of Art and Art History, Wayne State University

1987 - 1989: Acting Director, David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago

1986 - 1987: Assistant Director, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago

1980 - 1986: Exhibitions Coordinator, Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library

1973 - 1977: Instructor, Adult and Community Education, Des Moines Public Schools

Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa

Dow Automotive [corporate collection], Auburn Hills, Michigan

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Detroit branch)

The Kemper Group [corporate collection], Chicago, Illinois

Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minnesota

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri

Polk [corporate collection], Southfield, Michigan

Southern Graphics Council Archive, University of Mississippi

Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas

Print portfolio: "PLAC II (Print Language as Content)," Department of Printmaking, School of Art, University of Iowa, 2005

Artists book: Water: Sheba's story, Poems by Alice Ryerson Hayes, drawings by Jeffrey Abt (Charlottesville: Bookwrights Press, 1997)

Sculpture commission: The Waldinger Foundation, Des Moines, Iowa, 1975

Sculpture commission: Iowa Jewish Guild, Des Moines, Iowa, 1974

PAPERS AND OCCASIONAL PUBLICATIONS

"Artworlds, the Field of Cultural Production, and Society," lecture during visiting artist program at Department of Art, Southern Utah University. April 2007.

"In Storage: George Gustav Heye, His Collection, and the National Museum of the American Indian," in session on "Private Passions as Public Legacies," College Art Association annual conference. February 2007.

Keynote address: "Museums and the Inconvenience of History: Practice, Criticism, Theory," for an international symposium organized by the Museums and Galleries History Group (United Kingdom), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. September 2006.

"Museums and Religion: Modernity, Secularism, and Their Discontents," University of Leicester, United Kingdom, for conference: "The Museum: A World Forum." April 2006.

"Temples of Art? Museums and Religion," session chair introduction, College Art Association annual conference. February 2006.

"Artists and the Making and Remaking of Museums" (session chair’s introduction), College Art Association annual meeting. February 2003.

[Respondent,] "Optics and Seeing: Looking for Lenses," College Art Association annual meeting. February 2002.

"The Group Critique: Authority, Ritual, Hegemony, Performance" (session chair’s introduction), College Art Association annual meeting. February 2000.

"The Detroit Institute of Arts Crisis: A Socioeconomic Prehistory, 1885-1995," American Association of Museums annual meeting. April 1999.

"The Sciences Versus the Humanities: A National Academy of Sciences Colloquy, 1914-1922," Humanities Center symposium, Wayne State University. February 1996.

"Exhibiting Freud's Museum," College Art Association annual meeting. February 1991.

"Collecting, Museums, and the Shaping of Art History" (session chair's introduction). College Art Association annual meeting. February 1990.

"Teaching and Theory" (session introduction for symposium: "The Ends of Theory") Detroit Institute of Arts and Department of English, Wayne State University. February 1990.

"Deciphering Artworld Codes," dcJournal 1, 1(Summer 2000).

"The Detroit Institute of Arts: A Report on Governance, Economics, and Planning, 1885-1998," Occasional Papers Series, College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs, Wayne State University ( March 1999).

"Forbidden Subjects: How Artists Run Afoul of the Law," Chronicle of Higher Education (21 March 1997).

"The Complex Visual Language of Australia's Aborigines," Chronicle of Higher Education (15 February 1989).

Award of Merit, 2002, Historical Society of Michigan (for book Museum on the Verge, see "Publications")

Grant, 1998, Kaufman Memorial Trust (Detroit Institute of Arts research project)

Grant, 1998, Reva and David Logan Foundation (Detroit Institute of Arts research project)

Grant, 1993, National Endowment for the Humanities, "Summer Stipend" program (for Oriental Institute project)

Grant, 1992, Rockefeller University, travel grant for research at Rockefeller Archives Center (for Oriental Institute project)

Grant, 1991, National Endowment for the Humanities, "Travel to Collections" program (for Oriental Institute project)

Grant, 1984, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (for census of illuminations in Byzantine manuscripts of University of Chicago)

Fellowship, 1971-1972, Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion

Grant, 2003, Office of Research, University Research Grant (for Oriental Institute project)

Grant, 2002, Office of Research, Research Stimulation Award (for Association for Museum History organizing conference [co-sponsored with New York University])

Fellowship, 2002, Humanities Center

Grant, 2002, College of Fine Arts matching grant (for Association for Museum History organizing conference [co-sponsored with New York University])

Grant, 2001, Dean’s Creative/Research Grant, College of Fine Arts

Fellowship, 1998, College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs (Detroit Institute of Arts research project)

Grant, 1997, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (assistantship for graduate student to conduct Detroit Institute of Arts archival research)

Grant, 1997, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (research stipend for study related to Oriental Institute project)

Fellowship, 1995-1996, Humanities Center (for study related to Oriental Institute project)

Grant, 1995, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (educational development award to expand resources for courses on museum history and criticism)

Grant, 2001, 2000, 1997, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1990, Office of Research Administration ("Small Research Grants" for Oriental Institute and other projects)

[Numerous personal exhibition awards, purchase prizes, etc.; numerous grants for institutional projects from federal agencies including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities; state agencies such as the Illinois Arts Council; and various private philanthropies including the Joyce Foundation, Sara Lee Foundation, and Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.]

SERVICE

Scholarly

2002 - Present, Editorial Board, Wayne State University Press (Chair, 1996 - 2001;  Member, 1990 - 2001)

2005: Referee, Oakland University Department of Art professorial promotion application

2003: External Review Panel, Oakland University Department of Art

2002: Referee, Portland State University professorial promotion application

1999, 2000, 2001: Referee, manuscript proposals, for Harcourt Brace Publishers

1998: Referee, Drake University Department of Art professorial promotion application

1995: Chair, External Review Panel, Department of Art graduate programs, University of Minnesota, Duluth

1993 - 1994: Advisory Board, Humanities Center, Wayne State University

1985 - 1986: Editor, The Book and Paper Group Annual (a journal of the American Institute for Conservation)

1996 - Present, National Advisory Council, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, Illinois; Trustee, 1985 - 1996

2003 - Present, Trustee, Reva and David Logan Foundation, Chicago, Illinois

2001 - Present, Honorary Member, Board of Directors, Detroit Artists Market; Chair, 1999 - 2001; Secretary, 1996-1999; Member, 1994 - 2000

2004: Field Reviewer, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, National Archives and Records Administration

1998: Panel member, Museum grants program, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs

1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006: Grant Reviewer, Jacob K. Javits Fellowship competition, U. S. Department of Education

1994 - 1997: Panel member, U. S. Customs Facility art commission, U. S. General Services Administration

1992 - 1994: Education Advisory Board, Detroit Institute of Arts

1990 - 1992: Intercultural Programs Advisory Committee, Detroit Institute of Arts

1989 - 1990: Juror, Art on the Move/Artists' Residencies, City of Detroit

1988, 1989: Grant Reviewer, General Operating Support Program, Institute of Museum Services, a federal agency

[Also served on numerous university committees at Wayne State University and the University of Chicago at various university-wide, college-wide, and departmental levels; separate lists available on request]

Symposia and Colloquia Organized

"World’s Fairs and Expositions," Association for Museum History in collaboration with the Center for Education and Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, 2005.

"The Visual Arts in a Technological Age: A Centennial Rereading of Walter Benjamin," Wayne State University, April 1992.

"A Nation Without Sovereignty: Nineteenth Century Polish History and Culture," Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, May 1989 (funded by the NEH).

"The First Amendment and Freedom of Artistic Expression," Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, November 1988.

"Tradition and Conflict: Black Chicago's Response to the 1960s," Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, May 1987 (funded by the NEH).

"Architectural Planning in a Historic Context," University of Chicago, May 1983.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Association of Museums

Association for Museum History (founder, Steering Committee member)

College Art Association

Museums and Galleries History Group (United Kingdom)