Katharine Hensler, MHP

Museum Director

Katharine joined the Museum team as Director of the Riley County Historical Museum in June, 2022. She moved to Riley County from Washington State in 2017 and brings over 20 years of experience in collections management and museum administration. Originally from northcentral Pennsylvania, Ms. Hensler received a BA in History from Lock Haven University of Penna. and an MA in Historic Preservation from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. She has managed museums in Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, Washington, and Kansas, and has studied examples of museum interpretation around the world.

In Kansas, she has worked for the Cultural Resources Division of the Kansas Historical Society, the Flint Hills Discovery Center as the Assistant Director, and as a real property inventory analyst for Ernst & Young on the Fort Riley Military Installation. 

Her husband Craig Neill is an active-duty soldier in the US Army and a three-dimensional artist, and in their free time they enjoy traveling, visiting museums and art galleries, food, wine, outdoor activities, and raising and training sport and working dogs. 

Director Hensler is a member of the Manhattan Rotary Club, a graduate of the Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program, and has served in various capacities on working and advisory boards for museums, preservation organizations, and groups supporting humanitarian efforts around the country.