Liz Milewicz, Will Shaw, and Cheryl Thomas were core members of the Project Vox team whose positions were eliminated as part of Duke’s strategic realignment in summer 2025. In an effort to celebrate their tremendous contributions to philosophy, digital humanities, and the team, the Project Vox alums submitted their favorite memories of the three founding team members. We hope that this blog post honors their roles as mentors, librarians, teachers, and scholars.
Thank you Liz, Will, and Cheryl for all that you contributed to the Project Vox team and to Duke University Libraries. You will be sincerely missed!
Liz Milewicz, Project Vox Co-Lead 2014–2025
“Project Vox simply would not exist without Liz. She helped create the site from the beginning, acted as a mentor to countless students, and always had insightful ideas about how the project could evolve and how we could tackle new challenges. She was a wonderful colleague for many years. It’s really hard to imagine Vox without her. We will miss her terribly!” —Andrew Janiak, Co-leader
“Liz is the platonic ideal of a mentor—she is at once people-focused and logistics-focused, creating conditions for mentees’ experimentation, innovation, and growth. In addition to being brilliant, she is strategic, dynamic, and deeply caring. She created a space where we were free—truly free—to fail, and in doing so, helped us—and Project Vox—to succeed. Whether or not she knows it, I modeled much of my mentorship persona after her (and stole a bunch of my mentorship practices from her toolkit.) I would not be the mentor, strategist, thinker, teacher, or person I am if I hadn’t met her.” —Heather Suzanne Woods, Project Vox 2016–2017
“Liz has been and always will be the bedrock of the Project Vox team, not only to help achieve the great work of the digital project but also to shape the lives of its team members. For me, through her wisdom and warmth, Liz has been a pivotal figure in my life to rear me up from a clueless undergraduate intern to a slightly less clueless young professional. Her leadership, mentorship, and approach to management, marked by collaboration, steadiness, and caring discipline, have been my gold standard that have helped me navigate and keep an even keel in various organizations since Project Vox, including within Project Vox. I wish her the absolute best of luck for her next steps, which I’m certain will be a boon for whoever gets to work with her!” —Roy Auh, Project Vox 2015–2020
“Liz was the cornerstone of the Project Vox team. She is a tremendous scholar, librarian, and project manager, but I will reflect on her as a mentor. I worked with Liz in several positions while at Duke and always appreciated her guidance and thoughtfulness. Liz has a wonderful ability to give students freedom to try new things. She didn’t always care if our ideas were successful, she wanted us to learn and experiment. She provided a safe space for our interdisciplinary team to grow as scholars and professionals where we could ask questions, play, and have fun. I know I would not have the professional opportunities that I’ve had without Liz’s mentorship.” —Meredith Graham, Project Vox 2017–2020, 2021–2023
“The crucial role in a collaborative project is that of its leader. Lucky for us, Liz is a truly excellent co-leader. She is a huge part of the reason Project Vox has been able to succeed. Every Friday, Liz came into our meetings with an infectious energy that set the tone for the meeting and our work. She is a careful mentor—always checking in on her team and trying to anticipate obstacles along the way. In addition to being an expert librarian, she is a thoughtful and kind person. We can only hope to follow her example.” —Mary Purcell, Project Vox 2023–Present
“Liz has been one of my favorite mentors! She is unfailingly positive and insightful—I’ve loved every opportunity I’ve had to meet with Liz. She truly cares about each and every student, staff and faculty member and her enthusiasm for a new idea is infectious. I can’t imagine Duke without her, and feel very fortunate to have been a student at Duke while Liz was there.” —Dana Hogan, Project Vox 2020–2023
“Liz was such a great leader and was mostly successful in keeping people on track when we all just wanted to talk about other things. She was funny, smart, helpful, and kind, and might be responsible more than anyone for how great Project Vox has turned out to be.” —Bryce Gessell, Project Vox 2016–2019
“I am so greatly indebted to Liz. She took me in as a fledgling librarian after I emailed her without introduction begging for any library experience during the pandemic. Prior to joining Project Vox, my librarian education had been virtual and individualistic; joining the team felt like an offer of community. During my work with Project Vox and after, Liz has been enormously supportive, kind, and insightful. I can’t thank her enough for her advice and support on navigating library school, job applications, life as a working creative, and then as I transitioned into my new role as a librarian myself at the Duke library system. Liz helped me see myself in a new light, as I know she has done with so many people.” —Emilie Menzel, Project Vox 2021–2022
“Liz was the glue of Project Vox. Her unflagging dedication to advancing the interests of the project, the team, and each of its members came across in her active participation at every meeting, as well as her regular “check-ins” with team members, including me. Especially at the height of COVID, our weekly progress meetings on zoom were a source of solace and human connection. I learned so much from Liz about the nitty-gritty of images copyright, workflow, and project documentation. Before joining Project Vox, I had never been part of a collaborative project that runs so smoothly. Much of this spirited efficiency was thanks to Liz’s thorough knowledge of PV’s own history, her clear-sightedness about its goals, and her enthusiasm about its mission. She will be a sorely missed part of Project Vox and the greater Duke community.” —Yasemin Altun, Project Vox 2019–2023
“There are few people as talented as making others feel invested, appreciated, and seen as Liz. She has such a gift for pointing out team and individual strengths, even individual strengths one hadn’t seen in themselves before. She is always so helpful and so optimistic, even staying in contact and keeping up with team members’ lives after they left Project Vox.” —Jane Harwell, Project Vox 2020–2022
“Liz has always been very enthusiastic and understanding from my recollection. She’s deeply passionate about this project and very open-minded. She always made the discussion fun and enjoyable.” —Cai Liu, Project Vox 2021–2022
“Liz Milewicz stood out for her positivity and commitment during my time at Project Vox. In the roles of co-director and mentor of the Digital Scholarship and Publishing Services Fellows, Liz made sure undergraduate members like myself were integrated in and prepared to contribute to the project. Taking an interest not just in my role at Project Vox but my entire academic experience, Liz was someone I could depend on.” —Tristan Kelleher, Project Vox 2019–2021
“Liz was an incredible mentor to me as I took on the role of leading our feasibility counsel. She held regular check-ins with me not just to check on the status of our research, but also to see how I was doing. In every moment Liz was deliberate and thoughtful about making sure my Project Vox experience was as great as it possibly could be. I think it is that thoughtfulness and endless kindness which defined her contributions to the Duke community. Liz, I am very sorry to see you go, but I hope you know that I (and many others) are eternally grateful for you. Thank you.” —Niso Nahmiyas, Project Vox 2023–2024
“I feel so fortunate to have been able to work with Liz at Project Vox. Under her guidance, I understood for the first time what it meant to do collaborative scholarship. She treated everyone with attention and compassion and saw Project Vox as an opportunity to develop each individuals’ knowledge and skills. I probably told Liz about a dozen times (or more) ‘I don’t really know how to do that,’ but her response was always along the lines of ‘I don’t either, but we can figure it out!’ Again, Liz was just pointing out where I could develop, but she did it in a way that never made me feel like an imposter and it motivated me (and others) to try new things. I see this as the great strength of Project Vox: it was an academic endeavor that encouraged communication, experimentation, and openness where everyone is considered a team member and each contribution is valued. I think that Liz was a huge part of creating this environment. As I work with students now, I still constantly think about Liz’s mentorship and try to emulate her example.” —Adam Griggs, Project Vox 2016–2017
“I worked with Liz most closely during my senior year as Lead Researcher. In our weekly meetings she taught me so much about project management, creating realistic goals/deadlines, and communicating expectations to the rest of the team. She was a fabulous mentor, and I still use many of the skills she taught me! She was such a delightful and positive person to be around, and I’m so thankful our paths crossed while I was at Duke!” —Katherine Owensby, Project Vox 2018–2022
“Liz is always there to help, share a laugh, and guide you to the right dropbox folder 😉 It’s difficult to reflect on a single memory because Liz is integral to everything PV accomplished. What will Project Vox be without you? Best of luck, Liz.” —Kelsey Brod, Project Vox 2022–2024
“For so many of us at Duke—especially for those of us still finding our way/place in academia—Project Vox became a place to explore and reinvent ourselves. Liz is one of the main reasons why. As a mentor, Liz has a rare gift. She’s genuinely curious about people, she listens deeply, and she somehow sees where you might grow even before you do. Her guidance was never heavy-handed—she has this light, encouraging touch that gives you confidence to step into new fields, while also reminding you to focus on what really matters. As a librarian and project manager, Liz showed us that structure and creativity aren’t opposites—they need each other. She taught many of us the importance of documentation and planning, not as a bureaucratic chore, but as the heart of real collaboration.” —Mattia Begali, Project Vox 2017–2018
Will Shaw, Project Vox Technical Lead 2014–2025
“Will has been with the project since the very beginning. He was the person behind-the-scenes ensuring that our site was always up, our work was widely accessible, and we were on track. The site simply would not exist without him. He taught me and other members of the team a great deal. We wish him the very best in his next endeavors and we will really miss his presence here on campus.” —Andrew Janiak, co-leader
“When I joined the Project Vox team, I initially felt self conscious about not having a philosophy background and the limitations of my technology skills. Will was immediately supportive and welcoming, offering gentle reassurance on the ways to effectively approach projects from a position of learning and curiosity but also confidence in interdisciplinary expertise. I loved getting to work with Will on projects balancing data sharing with user experience. He had brought an impactful combination of kindness and curiosity to the Project Vox team.” —Emilie Menzel, Project Vox 2021–2022
“Will Shaw played an important part in making Project Vox a welcoming space with lots of opportunities to learn. I was fortunate to work directly with Will on a project focused on visualizing the social and professional networks of the philosophers on the site. His patience and ability to communicate made this and other technical projects rewarding to work on.” —Tristan Kelleher, Project Vox 2019–2021
“Will has a quiet strength. He is helpful and supportive—always happy to help whatever is needed—but leaves people enough room to learn and discover.” —Jane Harwell, Project Vox 2020–2022
“I remember Will to be very dependable. He kept our website running, analyzed the stats, and resolved technical issues, especially back when COVID protocols were still in effect.” —Cai Liu, Project Vox 2021–2022
“For me Will embodied what it means to be a digital humanist: someone who could bring together a deep humanistic sensibility with an impressive command of digital tools. With that combination, Will could easily have been intimidating—especially for those of us who joined the group with little knowledge of the digital humanities. But instead, he shared his expertise with clarity, patience and calmness, characteristics that made him a warmly approachable presence on the team.” —Mattia Begali, Project Vox 2017–2018
“Will’s deep scholarly and digital humanities expertise informs his technical expertise—a rare and powerful combination. For example, I remember that Will was the first person to mention an accessibility audit to the Project Vox website. He was committed to making the Project Vox website useful for all of our audience members. He also heavily influenced how I think about sustainability in digital humanities projects. I still use his website publication guidance in my professional work.” —Meredith Graham, Project Vox 2017–2020, 2021–2023
“Will is an expert technical lead. The digital machinery of Project Vox is a mystery to me. Despite not knowing the terminology or having the right questions, Will helpfully interpreted any curiosity I had related to his work. He always translated his work to make it accessible to the rest of the team. His kindness and patience never failed to put me at ease. His energy and expertise will be dearly missed.” —Mary Purcell, Project Vox 2023–Present
“I remember being thoroughly impressed by Will’s tech skills at our team meetings. When no one else knew how to accomplish something, Will figured it out!” —Katherine Owensby, Project Vox 2018–2022
“When there’s Will, there’s a way to make Project Vox what it is today. Will has been and always will be a crucial figure that propelled Project Vox into a leader of 21st-century approach to philosophical studies, raising the standards on the ‘digital’ part of digital humanities at large. On a personal note, I will always be thankful for Will for my time working with him to develop the technical handbook for Project Vox and discussing the project’s copyright posture, as that has been the launching point for my current career in technology law and policy. I have no doubt that Will will continue to influence students and this field of cutting-edge academia, and I am excited to see his next initiatives!” —Roy Auh, Project Vox 2015–2020
“What I liked most about Will, besides all his obvious virtues and knowledge, was his patience with me as I would extol to him the benefits of using LaTeX, a markup language he undoubtedly knew way more about than I did.” —Bryce Gessell, Project Vox 2016–2019
“I think that Will was the first librarian I ever met who could code (at least as far as I knew), which impressed me off the bat. He also always showed a deep methodological understanding of the Digital Humanities that frequently opened up new avenues. Will tended to be quieter in meetings, but I always listened when he spoke because I knew it was going to be important. Often, it would send me down a research rabbit hole to learn more about the projects and scholars he was referencing. He also converted me to just how important documentation is for a research project. Looking at the backend of Project Vox you would see many comments by Will explaining sections of the code that were extremely helpful for me and anyone joining the project. When I first joined Project Vox, I still had a pretty narrow view of what librarians could be. Will really opened my eyes to the tools and skills I could (should?) be using in librarianship.” —Adam Griggs, Project Vox 2016–2017
“Will’s in-depth knowledge of the digital humanities was vital to Project Vox’s success and growth as an online resource. He was the key player in the lead-up to publishing new entries and had the answer to every quirk and hiccup of the WordPress platform. I am thankful for his patience and composure when facing technical challenges on the Project Vox website, and for his insights about how best to present visual knowledge using digital tools.” —Yasemin Altun, Project Vox 2019–2023
“I’m so grateful for Will’s contributions to Project Vox, which have been essential for the evolution of user experience and growing awareness of the site! Without Will, Project Vox wouldn’t be what it is today.” —Dana Hogan, Project Vox 2020–2023
“Will was always willing to do behind the scenes work without much credit! Thank you, Will, for supporting the initiative of SandVox and getting it running on the website (and for thinking of the excellent name “SandVox”). Best of luck to you and your future endeavors.” —Kelsey Brod, Project Vox 2022–2024
“Will does digital humanities right. His takes on tech, access, and information are among the most cogent and considered in the DH space. He continues to influence my thinking about emerging technology and the future of higher ed.” —Heather Suzanne Woods, Project Vox 2016–2017
Cheryl Thomas, Project Vox Philosophy Librarian 2014–2025
“Before Vox was begun, Cheryl was well-known to us as the Philosophy Librarian at Duke, but she quickly expanded her portfolio and became a central figure in the project. It was really Cheryl’s idea to enrich the site with historically accurate, carefully curated images, which became a hallmark of our work. She taught countless students about how to scour the web and museums and collections around the world for just the right image to help us present one of our figures. We will miss her so much!” —Andrew Janiak, co-leader
“I came to Project Vox as a graduate student worker and librarian-in-training at Duke University Libraries, working especially closely with Cheryl. I was so immensely lucky to get to work with her! She taught me how to be a creative librarian liaison, encouraging me at every step to think outside the box and leverage the library’s resources to the betterment of innovative campus initiatives like Project Vox. I would not be the librarian I am today without her mentorship!” —Anna Twiddy, Project Vox 2021–2022
“Cheryl was very knowledgeable. She paid close attention to every discussion and consistently offered highly insightful suggestions.” —Cai Liu, Project Vox 2021–2022
“Cheryl always dives into the weeds of research, surfacing to share important and entertaining details during meetings. Cheryl also gifted me a vintage, never worn, Project Vox shirt—priceless! Best of luck, Cheryl.” —Kelsey Brod, Project Vox 2022–2024
“Cheryl was the first person I met who worked on Project Vox. I originally reached out to her to discuss her work as a Philosophy librarian, and she invited me to Duke to chat over coffee. I probably had just water, but Cheryl was totally open and candid with me about her work and the profession. She was making tons of connections to other disciplines and demonstrated her breadth of knowledge and love of librarianship. Mostly, I remember how she instantly treated me as a colleague and not just a graduate student. When I saw Cheryl at the Ten Years of Project Vox Symposium, it was like no time had passed and our conversation just picked up where we last left off.” —Adam Griggs, Project Vox 2016–2017
“Cheryl has been a wonderful resource for Project Vox, educating students, faculty, and staff alike about image research and best practices. She has been an integral part of the Vox team and will be deeply missed.” —Dana Hogan, Project Vox 2020–2023
“Cheryl was indispensable in conceiving and developing the Images Gallery and Timeline sections of the Project Vox website. Since the beginning, she was a vocal advocate of the power of images to promote the Project Vox mission, and she was a close interlocutor for me when I served as Images Lead from 2020–2022. I am immensely grateful for her insights about library science and images research, which not only benefitted by work on Project Vox, but has made my own research as a PhD candidate in Art History more personally and intellectually fulfilling.” —Yasemin Altun, Project Vox 2019–2023
“Cheryl is an impressive librarian. Not only does she have incredible language skills that were used frequently on the Project Vox team, but a deep knowledge of philosophy. As a team member, I always felt that Cheryl was very committed to the mission of Project Vox to highlight voices traditionally excluded from the philosophical canon. Whenever we started a new entry, Cheryl dug through countless records to find any sources relevant to each philosopher. She made sure that every entry we wrote was accurate and did justice to each philosopher’s story.” —Meredith Graham, Project Vox 2017–2020, 2021–2023
“Cheryl made many contributions to Project Vox but for me the most valuable one was her knowledge of how libraries worked. Not with the books and everything, but with personalities and how you had to work within the constraints of people’s feelings in order to get things done. That’s experience.” —Bryce Gessell, Project Vox 2016–2019
“Cheryl is one of the most interesting and brilliant people I have ever met. She has a kaleidoscopic mind—I could bring an idea to her and she would refract it in so many productive and surprising ways. Every time I talked to Cheryl I always walked away with a fresh perspective. She is a gem.” —Heather Suzanne Woods, Project Vox 2016–2017
“Cheryl is such a force of positivity. She is efficient and committed to her work, and she is always cheerful when you run into her in the library (or even just on library chat!).” —Jane Harwell, Project Vox 2020–2022
“I will always be grateful for Cheryl’s guidance during my early days with Project Vox. I first joined the group to help manage the project’s images. A few weeks before the launch of an entry, I realized—much to my panic—that some crucial pieces of my work were still missing. Cheryl’s competence and deep experience carried me through, and her support made all the difference. Our conversations also showed me how much the project meant to her—not just as scholarly work, but for the values it embodied. Working in a DH project can be stressful, especially as deadlines approach, but talking with Cheryl always helped me step back, regain perspective, and see the bigger picture.” —Mattia Begali, Project Vox 2017–2018
“I perhaps remember Cheryl Thomas best for her ability to track down any book, image, citation or document. She was particularly helpful when I worked on the Lady Mary Shepherd entry, a philosopher with very few associated images. Cheryl was consistently cheerful and optimistic, helping the team maintain a positive dynamic even in challenging moments, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.” —Tristan Kelleher, Project Vox 2019–2021
“Cheryl was so helpful in locating library materials and sharing tips for how to navigate online resources. She taught me skills that I continued to use throughout my master’s research. I distinctly remember a quote from Cheryl at one of our team meetings–an idea that has stuck with me to this day. She said, ‘Everyone is participating in philosophy, whether they know it or not, in the choices they make and values they hold.’” —Katherine Owensby, Project Vox 2018–2022
“Project Vox’s philosopher entries simply would not look the same without the work of Cheryl. Cheryl is an expert in images research. Not only that, she is also a kind and warm individual. She contributed heavily to the special atmosphere of Project Vox. She was always willing to guide the team through images work and to share her expertise. Importantly, she regularly volunteered to work on whatever task needed extra hands. She is a great example to the undergraduates and graduate students of how one should be a scholar and collaborator.” —Mary Purcell, Project Vox 2023–Present
“On the team side, Cheryl has been a key part of Project Vox’s renowned academic rigor. On the personal side, Cheryl has been a phenomenal teacher on how to conduct research, read materials carefully, and translate findings into world-class deliverables, a skill that every student passing through Project Vox is forever grateful for, including myself. Having been part of various organizations outside of academia since, I’ve found myself consistently returning to research and writing skills Cheryl taught me. I am excited for Cheryl’s next stages, and for Cheryl’s future students and what they will learn!” —Roy Auh, Project Vox 2015–2020
“Cheryl made myself and so many feel right at home in the Project Vox community, offered steady advice on research methodology and provided valuable perspective on the historical arc of the project. I’m grateful to Cheryl for her generous warmth and support, both during and beyond Project Vox, as I have started out on my librarian career.” —Emilie Menzel, Project Vox 2021–2022
