Ilana Pergam

A 1986 graduate of Chapin, Ilana Pergam returned to the school in 2005 as director of academic program, having taught in the Upper School history department from 1993 to 1998. Ms. Pergam also serves as Chapin's Advanced Placement coordinator and oversees the school's Individual Study program. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Ms. Pergam develops and teaches courses on subjects as varied as writing, oral history and current events in the Upper School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in history, with distinction, from Yale University in 1990 and received a master’s in American history, with special training in archival management, in 2000, from Loyola University Chicago. From 1999 to 2005, Ms. Pergam worked as a business archivist and corporate historian, first at Ameritech Corporation, now part of AT&T Inc., and then at the advertising agency Leo Burnett. In 1999, she co-authored a photographic history of local telephone service in the Great Lakes region. At Leo Burnett, she authored portions of Born in 1842: A History of Advertising, a volume on the work of some of the world’s most influential advertising agencies and ad campaigns. Ms. Pergam is an ardent antiquer and pie baker.