The University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is pleased to announce the appointment of Helmut Puff as its new director. In this next chapter of the Kelsey’s leadership, Puff will oversee the museum’s intellectual and operational footprint, working closely with faculty and staff to carry out the institution’s mission of excavating the past and building community today. His two-year appointment began on July 1, 2026.
Helmut Puff is the Elizabeth L. Eisenstein Collegiate Professor of History and Germanic Languages at the University of Michigan. His teaching and research focus on German history, literature, and culture, with a particular focus on late medieval and early modern Europe. Puff’s work spans sexuality studies, media history, reading practices, and visual history. Recently, he has examined modes of seeing, representations of ruins, the history of three-dimensional city models, and a history of waiting through the antespaces designed for those who waited or were made to wait.
Puff’s appointment comes in the wake of Nicola Terrenato’s six-year tenure as director and curator for the archaeology of the Italian Peninsula at the Kelsey. Since 2020, Terrenato has ushered the museum through several waves of transformation in its exhibitions, fieldwork, and educational programs. Under his leadership, the Kelsey Museum developed a new permanent gallery exploring an under-exhibited facet of its collection: the art and artifacts of the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. Terrenato also had a remarkably successful track record in fundraising for the Kelsey, raising more than $5 million in support of archaeological field projects (especially through the Klinsky Expeditions) and educational outreach. His time as director was further marked by the continued professionalization of the museum and the collaborative development of a new strategic plan and mission statement—providing a roadmap for the Kelsey’s future.
“It was a great honor and a real thrill to direct the Kelsey over the past six years,” said Terrenato. “I look forward to seeing our institution go from strength to strength.”
Indeed, Puff’s extensive background in history and visual culture situates him well to carry the museum into its next era: “The ancient pasts on display at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology have the power to touch, transport, and transform. Through its rich exhibitions and extensive collections, the museum invites everyone into journeys across frontiers of space and time—something I am eager to help preserve as well as shape with the brilliant team at the Kelsey.”
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology has explored the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East since 1928—bringing the ancient world to life for generations of Michigan students, faculty, and staff. An internationally recognized institution, the Kelsey supports active archaeological fieldwork, advancing public and scholarly access to its collections through publications in diverse media and dynamic museum exhibitions and programs.
