Allison Alexy Appointed IRWG Interim Director

August 2022

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Professor Allison Alexy as interim director of IRWG. Her one-year appointment takes effect September 1. The Office of the Vice President for research has retained the executive leadership consulting firm WittKeiffer to assist with a national search for IRWG’s next director, which will take place during this academic year.

An associate professor in the department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Prof. Alexy joined U-M in 2015. She is a cultural anthropologist focusing on gender, intimacy, families, and law in contemporary Japan. She brings leadership experience to IRWG, having served as director of undergraduate studies for Women’s and Gender Studies and at the Center for Japanese Studies. 

Prof. Alexy has been an IRWG faculty affiliate since 2018 and received an IRWG faculty seed grant in 2020 for an ethnographic research project exploring "ghosting" and the ethics of breakups. "Since joining U-M, I have learned so much from IRWG colleagues at events, panels, and discussions,” says Prof. Alexy. “I am thrilled to be able to join this dynamic team and further support research focused on women and gender at a moment when its importance is ever more clear."

Prof. Alexy will be responsible for the overall leadership and administration of IRWG during the 2022-23 academic year. Anna Kirkland will step down at the end of August, following a five-year tenure as executive director.

“Dr. Allison Alexy is a valued colleague and I was thrilled when she accepted the interim leadership position for IRWG,” notes Prof. Kirkland. “She shares IRWG’s commitment to advancing research on women, gender, and sexuality and brings a new perspective from her extensive, well funded anthropological fieldwork in Japan. IRWG will be in great hands.”