Alisa Crawford has been working in the history field since the age of 15, and in mills since the age of 17. She holds a BA in History, and a Masters Degree in Museum Studies.  Although raised in Michigan, she lived and worked as a historian in a number of states including Virginia, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New York and Hawai’i. In 2002, she returned to her love of mills by joining the staff of Windmill Island in Holland, Michigan, where she managed every aspect of a 250-year-old windmill, from adjusting the pressure of the millstones to the wind speed, to grinding wheat and storing it. In 2006, she began studying the Dutch language for two years, in order to take the Dutch Miller Certification Program, entirely taught in Dutch in the Netherlands. Alisa was the first American student to become a Dutch certified miller. In 2009, she was admitted into the professional Dutch Guild of Millers as the only woman among 35 Dutch men. She has been featured in several magazines in the US, and the Netherlands, and is the author of the book “De  Zwaan: The True Story of America’s Authentic Dutch Windmill,” which profiles the mill’s remarkable history. She continues to blaze a trail that is all her own, reaching new heights along the way, and proving that she is far from a “run of the mill” woman.

Sponsored by the Institute for European Studies, Germanic Studies and Taalunie.

The event will be held in GA 1112.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation

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