Our Staff

Michael Gately has been the executive director of BIO since January 2020. His duties include working with the Board and its committees to organize the annual conference and other events, and to coordinate BIO’s awards and programs. For five years at the Leon Levy Center for Biography, Gately was program director and deputy to the executive director, Gary Giddins. He is now writing a book about Woodrow Wilson and cycling in the 1890s, and he also works full-time as an administrator at Columbia University, where he is the assistant director of the Center for American Studies.

In January 2025, Jared Stearns became the fourth editor of BIO’s publications. Stearns’s first biography, Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers, was published in 2024 by Headpress. He’s been a BIO member since 2019 and also serves on the Conference Program and Development committees. He’s currently working on his second biography.

Melanie R. Meadors is the Associate Editor for The Biographer’s Craft newsletter. She writes picture book biographies and other nonfiction for children, usually featuring scientists and their work throughout history. Mel is also the public outreach coordinator for the Aldrich Astronomical Society and a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.

Jennifer Richards edits the quarterly Latest News in Biography newsletter and serves as the publicist for BIO. In addition to her work with BIO, she is Co-Founder and Co-President of Over the River Public Relations, a PR firm specializing in book publicity.

Lori Izykowski is BIO’s first paid administrator and membership coordinator, supporting the organization since February 2012 while also working full-time as a Project Control Specialist in Stafford, Virginia, and part-time at a custom-framing shop. She works closely with BIO’s president, committees, and publications editor Jared Stearns on membership management, conference support, and other programs. Lori recruits new members through BIO’s Facebook page and member referrals, so if you know a biographer—published or unpublished—please share their contact information with Lori.

Bradley has over 30 years of experience as a copy editor and has worked at People magazine since 1998, serving as deputy copy chief since 2009. He co-founded and co-edits the Martin Van Buren Papers and authored Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician (Oxford, 2024). His next book, The Great Apostate: The Life and Times of Thomas Cooper, will be published by LSU Press. He lives in Chatham, New York, with his wife, Melanie Masserant, and occasionally teaches in SUNY Albany’s public history program.