Description
General Notes
Application review will begin on January 20, 2026.
The Harry Ransom Center’s Preservation and Conservation Division announces an opening for the Suzanne Deal Booth Post-graduate Fellowship in Conservation, with a focus in Photograph or Paper Conservation. This fellowship is a temporary, two-year, full-time position. This position is 40 hours/week, receives full health and retirement benefits, and considerable time off including vacation, sick leave, and holidays. Generous funding for professional development is provided.
As an integral member of the Ransom Center’s preservation and conservation staff, the Fellow will perform a full spectrum of conservation treatment activities in their area of specialization. Depending on the successful candidate’s area of work, the position will report to either the Senior Photograph Conservator or the Head of Book and Paper Conservation. The fellowship offers an opportunity to acquire advanced training while working in a highly collaborative environment that includes six conservators (book, paper, photograph, preventive) and one preservation technician. There is ample support for historical or technical research to evolve from the treatment projects undertaken. The Fellow will have the opportunity to work with colleagues across the Ransom Center (e.g. archivists, curators, digital collections staff) and learn broadly about the functions of a library, archive and museum. The Fellow will have the opportunity to learn about and participate in the Campus Conservation Initiative, a collaborative conservation undertaking with UT Austin’s largest libraries and archives, centered at the Ransom Center.
The Ransom Center is an internationally renowned humanities research center at The University of Texas at Austin. Our extensive collections provide unique insight into the creative process of some of our finest writers and artists, deepening the understanding and appreciation of literature, photography, film, art, and the performing arts.
The collections include nearly 1 million books, more than 42 million manuscripts, 5 million photographs, and 100,000 works of art. Highlights include Robert De Niro's archive of scripts, notes, costumes, and props; the earliest known extant photograph made with the aid of the camera obscura, the Niépce Heliograph; E. E. Cummings's wooden paint box; manuscript drafts by Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing; Jack Kerouac's notebook documenting his writing of On the Road; original works by Frida Kahlo, including her iconic self-portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird; the Gernsheim Collection, containing some of the world's finest examples of photographic art and science; some of Albert Einstein's unpublished notes and calculations for his work on general relativity; Gabriel García Márquez's manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, and more (digitized for easy perusal); and one of only 20 complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the world.
Purpose
Consult with collection managers and carry out treatment of rare and unique materials from the Ransom Center collections. Participate in activities relating to the preventive care of collections. Engage in professional and public outreach activities. Undertake research and/or collaborative projects.
Responsibilities
Perform the full spectrum of photograph or paper conservation treatment activities, including:
Examination, with written and photographic documentation
Identification of historical materials, structures and their condition, including technical research as needed
Dialog with curators and collection managers about treatment choices
Carry out minor and complex single-item treatment and housing for collection items
Participate in preventive care activities, including:
Providing protective enclosures for complex collection holdings
Monitoring collection and exhibition environments
Conducting IPM processes
Requirements
Master’s degree from a recognized graduate art conservation education program, with a demonstrated concentration in photograph or paper conservation, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Must have received degree in 2023, 2024, 2025 or anticipate a graduation date of no later than August 2026. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Fluency in spoken and written English.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience working with historical and contemporary photographic collections. Experience collaborating with curators, special collections managers, archivists, conservators and technicians in a team environment.
