NATO Archives with Ineke Deserno

“Have an open mind. Be curious about something. Be enthusiastic about what you do. It doesn’t matter where you work, you can always learn something. The past is not past it is present – it plays such an important role in today’s world and we should not forget about where we come from.”

 

Featured photo: Celebrating the 15th anniversary of the NATO Archives. Cake courtesy of Ashley Roche. Photo by Nicholas Nguyen.

Speaking at the seminar for the NATO Archives exhibition “Science and the Alliance: NATO’s Third Dimension”. Photo by Erik Luntag

DR. INEKE DESERNO was appointed the NATO Archivist in February 2010. She is responsible for preserving the institutional memory of the Alliance and providing access to its rich documentary heritage. A career international civil servant in heart and soul, Ineke arrived at NATO having accumulated 15 years of professional experience managing the corporate records and archives of the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).  Her cosmopolitan approach to archives and information management was shaped by her education in the three major national traditions in the field. She holds a Master of History and Archival Studies from the Netherlands, a post graduate degree in archives and records management from Canada, and PhD from Australia. She enjoys cycling and swimming.

Ineke is a frequent lecturer at information management conferences around the world and continues to participate in various international archives-related research projects and professional associations.

60th Anniversary of the accession of Germany to NATO with Ambassador Martin Erdmann, Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to NATO (left) and Nicholas Nguyen, Public Disclosure Officer for the NATO Archives (right).