Michael Frisch

Biography

Michael Frisch was for many years Professor of American Studies and History at the University at Buffalo and the State University of New York. He was President of the American Studies Association (2000–2001), and the Oral History Association (2009–2010), and editor of the Oral History Review (1986–1996). He is author of A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (1990) and (with photographer Milton Rogovin) Portraits in Steel (1993). He recently moved into consulting and software development helping organizations to create meaningful access to the stories, photos, and oral histories they generate and collect through his Randforce Associates, LLC consulting office. He has focused on new tools and approaches for media-linked multi-dimensional transcription, multimedia content management, and rich indexing – ways of “putting oral history to use(s).” He has formed a partnership with a “short-form oral history” web-app, PixStori, through which users add voice, sound, and stories to photographs, sharing these in social multi-media communities.