Current LCHP Staff
Tawny Paul
Director (2026-present)
Tawny Paul is an award-winning historian of early-modern Britain and America, with a particular interest in histories of capitalism, labor and incarceration. She has also written extensively on commemorative practices and the intersections of art and history. Since 2020, Paul has directed UCLA History Department’s Public History Initiative.
Email: tpaul[at]history.ucla.edu
Roselyn Campbell
Assistant Director (2023-present)
Roselyn A. Campbell is an anthropologist and bioarchaeologist. She earned her PhD in Archaeology from UCLA. Her research focuses on evidence for state-sanctioned violence in the past, particularly in ancient Egypt, and seeks to understand how violence and trauma are performed and understood on the physical and cultural body. She also explores themes of identity and otherness in the past and the history of cancer in antiquity. Before joining the Luskin Center, Roselyn worked at the Getty Research Institute and the Getty Villa for nearly a decade..
Email: rcampbell[at]history.ucla.edu
Sofia Sheremet
Undergraduate Student Researcher
Sofia Sheremet joined LCHP at the beginning of 2026 and will continue with us through 2027. Sofia is an undergraduate student at UCLA, majoring in history and Russian studies. She is interested in the ways history informs policies on the domestic and international level from policy to diplomacy. She hopes to pursue a career in law.
Former LCHP Staff
David Myers
Founding Director (2017-2026)
David Myers is a Professor and the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at UCLA. He has written extensively in the fields of modern Jewish intellectual and cultural history, with a particular interest in the history of Jewish historiography. He has previously served as Robert N. Burr Chair of the History Department and as director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies.
Email: myers[at]history.ucla.edu
Ben Zdencanovic
Post-Doctoral Scholar (2022-2025)
Ben Zdencanovic (pronounced sten-CHAN-oh-vich) is a Postdoctoral Associate at the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. Ben is a historian of the United States in the world, domestic and international politics, and economic and social policy. He has a particular interest in the relationship between U.S. global power and the politics of redistribution and the welfare state.
Ben earned his doctorate with distinction from the Department of History at Yale in 2019, where his dissertation was the winner of the Edwin W. Small Prize for outstanding work in United States history. Prior to coming to UCLA, Ben was a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale Jackson School for Global Affairs and an Assistant Instructional Professor at the University of Chicago.
Mackenzie Moeller
Graduate Student Researcher
Mackenzie Moeller Elmore is a PhD student in the Latin American Department at UCLA. Her research focuses on 18th- and 19th-century Caribbean women’s history and fashion history. From 2025-26, Mackenzie was a vital part of rebranding and redesigning LCHP’s podcast, developing new content and strategies for engagement.
Kylie Thomsen
Graduate Student Researcher
Kylie Thomsen earned her PhD in Egyptology from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA in 2025. Her research focused on the use and reuse of ancient Egyptian statuary during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. During her time at LCHP, Kylie helped revitalize LCHP’s social media presence and played a pivotal role in growing our podcast.
Hiba Zaidi
Graduate Student Researcher
Hiba Zaidi earned her Master’s in Public Policy at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, with a keen focus on the historical dimensions of societal dynamics and data policy. As a Graduate Student Researcher at the Luskin Center of History and Policy, Hiba delved into the intersection of society and data policy, specifically investigating biases in data that historically omit marginalized groups. Informed by her background in sociology and enriched by her professional experience in the digital marketing realm, Hiba is dedicated to unraveling the historical roots of data bias and its contemporary implications.
Emily Bejanyan
Undergraduate Student Researcher
Emily Bejanyan graduated from UCLA in 2025 with a degree in Political Science and a minor in History. Throughout 2024-25, Emily was instrumental in designing and implementing new content for our social media accounts and providing support for our podcast.
Mary Bejanyan
Undergraduate Student Researcher
Mary Bejanyan earned her B.A. from UCLA with a History major and a Public Affairs minor. Mary is originally from Glendale, California, and is currently pursuing a career in law. Her interests are in international law and examining foreign policy.