Kathi Diamant, Director
Niels Bokhove, PhD
Anna R. Cohn
Tershia d’Elgin
Rolf J. Goebel, PhD
Stefanie Groenke
Kathleen B. Jones, PhD
Bonnie Klein
Yoram Mayorek
Anthony Rudolf
Nikki Symington

The Kafka Project is a non-profit volunteer organization, under the umbrella of the San Diego State University Research Foundation, and is funded by donations, grants and generous sharing of resources, skills and knowledge.

Kathi Diamant, Kafka Project Director (USA)
Journalist, author and adjunct professor at San Diego State University, Kathi Diamant has researched the life of Dora Diamant since 1971. In 1985, Diamant embarked on the first of more than a dozen international research missions to discover what happened to Dora after Kafka's death in 1924. Building on research conducted by Max Brod and Klaus Wagenbach, she began the Kafka Project in 1997 with the permission of the Kafka Estate in London, England. In 1998, she led the four-month-long 1998 Berlin Research Project, which among other things, confirmed the confiscation of the property of Dora Diamant (Dymant-Lask) and distributed German-language Kafka Project Alerts to Berlin archives, identifying the missing material. During her two decades of immersion research into the mysteries surrounding the life of Dora Diamant, she has retraced Dora's steps from Poland to Germany, Russia, England, Israel, France and the Isle of Man, and interviewd every known living person who knew Dora. Her book, Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant was first published in the US and UK in 2003. Translations have been (or will be) published in Spanish, French and Chinese. Kathi is currently anchor/producer for KPBS, public broadcasting in San Diego.

Niels Bokhove, PhD (Netherlands)
Dr. Bokhove is a Kafka scholar, philosopher, and former professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. The co founder and first chairman of the board of the Nederlanse Franz Kafka Kring (Dutch Franz Kafka Circle) he now serves as general editor of the Dutch literary quarterly, Kafka Katern, and is webmaster of the Dutch Kafka Circle's extensive online newsletter and website. Dr. Bokhove has conducted original research on Dora Diamant's life in Holland in 1939 40, and has written books, articles and numerous papers about Kafka.

Anna R. Cohn (Washington, DC, USA )
Anna R. Cohn has served as Director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibits Service (SITES) in Washington, DC since 1990. She joined the Smithsonian Institution in 1982 as Project Director of "The Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections," a four year international project. Prior to her appointment to the Smithsonian, Ms. Cohn was Director of Museum Planning for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the B'nai Brith Museum in Washington, DC

Tershia d'Elgin (California)
Author, editor, illustrator and translator, Tershia d'Elgin has written several books and is a contributing journalist in art, science, psychology, and history for numerous magazines and newspapers. Ms. d'Elgin attended the College of William & Mary, University of California San Diego and graduated with honors from les Ecoles de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in France.

Rolf J. Goebel, Ph.D. (Alabama, USA)
Associate Professor of German in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Dr. Goebel is the 2000-02 President of the Kafka Society of America. A Kafka scholar in literary critical matters, Dr. Goebel has written two books on Kafka as well as numerous published articles. Born in Germany, Dr. Goebel has presented papers on Kafka at conferences and symposia throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan.

Stefanie Groenke (UK, Germany)
Steffi Groenke joined the Kafka Project in Berlin in 1998 as translator and administrative assistant. For five years, she provided primary translation and research services for the book, Kafka's Last Love. Steffi graduated from Free University in Berlin in 2001 and taught at Wheaton College in Massachusetts before becoming DAAD-Lektorin at the University of Edinburgh in 2002. Apart from teaching, she is involved in many projects promoting the study of German abroad.

Kathleen B. Jones, Ph.D. (California, USA)
Dr. Jones is Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University, former Associate Dean, College of Arts and Letters, and Chair of the Department of Women's Studies at SDSU, the oldest such department in the U.S. Dr. Jones has taught at SDSU since 1980. Active in the field of women, politics, and feminist theory, she has published three books and numerous articles in scholarly and popular journals. Dr. Jones is the recipient of many honors and awards, including four National Endowment for the Humanities grants.

Bonnie G. Klein (USA Washington, DC)
Bonnie Klein is Program Manager of Foreign Acquisitions and Copyrighted Information, Defense Technical Information Center, in Ft. Belvoir, Va. A program of the U.S. Department of Defense, DTIC is the organization which translated, categorized, and disseminated tons of German research and development documents taken from Germany by the Allied Forces. Ms. Klein's prior positions include Acting Chief of Cataloging and Chief of Special Programs. Ms. Klein is an elected member of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee, sponsored by the U.S. Library of Congress.

Yoram Mayorek (Israel)
An independent archival research consultant in Jerusalem, Yoram Mayorek retired in 1998 as director of the Central Zionist Archives, after 30 years employment with the largest and most important Jewish archives in the world. An expert in archival research for museums, exhibitions, archives and university faculty, Mr. Mayorek specializes in research in Holocaust-era assets, Israel, and genealogy. Fluent in English, Russian, French, Hebrew, and German, and well as his native Polish, his professional contacts and expertise extend throughout the world. It was through his efforts that we obtained Dora’s Comintern file from Moscow’s “Special Archives.” http://www.research.co.il

Anthony Rudolf (England)
Author, translator, editor, publisher, radio and television broadcaster, Anthony Rudolf worked for the BBC World Service in London, England from 1974 1995. A Royal Literary Fellow, he is the former editor of European Judaism and advisory editor to Jewish Quarterly. Mr. Rudolf is London editor of Jerusalem Review has written books of fiction and literary criticism, and translated French, Russian, and Hebrew poets, and founded the Menard Press, publisher of many distinguished writers and poets, including two Nobel prize winners.

Nikki Symington (California, USA)
A thirty year governmental affairs public relations specialist, Nikki Symington is president of Symington Communications. She has represented clients at state, national, and international levels. Recipient of many achievement awards, Ms. Symington was named Public Relations Person of the Year in 1996 by the San Diego Press Club. As strategic advisor to the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, Ms. Symington helped to create, organize, and win California's Prop 5 initiative.