Noa Leibson ’20 unlocks dream career through faculty mentorship

Noa Leibson ’20 is working as a museum curator at the International Museum of the Horse. She is grateful for the mentorship that she received at Gettysburg College from Art & Art History Prof. Felicia Else, who inspired her to pursue her passions.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1, Gettysburg College students develop meaningful relationships with faculty members who are invested in their success. For alumna Noa Leibson ’20, a museum curator at the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky, the impact of one mentor—Art & Art History Prof. Felicia Else—has proven transformative for her college life and career. 

Leibson first arrived at Gettysburg College with the intention of going to medical school; however, she quickly realized that her passions lied elsewhere. During her first semester, she took a medieval art class with Prof. Else, and afterwards, she declared a double major in anthropology and art history. 

“From the get-go, Prof. Else was very friendly, especially towards someone like me who was on the fence about studying art,” she shared. “In my medieval art class, I remember going to her office to turn in an exam, and that’s when she produced the major declaration slip. She could tell that art history and museum work were my true passions.”

For Else, connecting with her students is at the heart of her educational philosophy. “I am very intentional and authentic about treating each student as a unique individual with their own special interests, likes, dislikes, inspirations and fears. I want to know what drives them, what surprises them, what intrigues them, and what holds them back,” she explained. “Noa showed a marvelously bold personality from the start, so it was practically no effort to mentor her. She was smart and driven but she also really knew what she liked, so what I strove to do was simply to enable her potential. Her passion and drive also influenced me—and I love it when I learn from my own students.”

Noa Leibson ’20 competing at the Kentucky Horse Park
Noa Leibson ’20 competing at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Leibson grew up in Chicago, and she often traveled for equestrian competitions, visiting museums along the way. “I remember being enamored with art and with old things,” she reflected. “It never occurred to me that this passion, along with my love for horses, could become a career until Prof. Else opened my eyes to the possibility.”

Leibson’s favorite memories from Gettysburg are the times that she spent with the equestrian team and the classes that she took with Else, who eventually became her advisor. 

Noa Leibson ’20 taking pXRF scans of a section of the Antonine Wall as a part of her dissertation at the Hunterian Museum in Scotland. The objective of the research was to discover the colors that the wall used to be painted with.

“I especially loved taking classical art with Prof. Else,” Leibson recalled. “She had taught about a new development in the field used to search for traces of polychromy, which is the painting on sculptures or architecture that can no longer be seen. I was so infatuated with the concept that it became my dissertation and what I ended up studying in Scotland for graduate school.” 

Along with curating museums at the International Museum of the Horse, Leibson is also working on a children’s book on Princess Kyniska of Sparta, who was the subject of her art history thesis at Gettysburg. 

Illustration from the children’s book that Noa Leibson ’20 is working to release.

“Writing and illustrating the book goes hand-in-hand with what Prof. Else encouraged me to do back when I was a student,” Leibson explained. “I remember writing a paper on horses in medieval art and wondering if the topic was too niche, but she reassured me that somebody had to do it! And now I get to tell the story of this amazing Spartan woman in a way that is accessible and fun for people.”

Four years after graduating from Gettysburg College, Leibson remains grateful for Prof. Else’s mentorship. “As a professional, I still send her questions when I am stumped on a certain artifact to see if she has any insight or knows of anyone else who might,” she shared. “We also still send each other pictures of donuts because we’re on a long-term mission of finding the best donut in the world.”

“I pinch myself over how cool my job is,” Leibson reflected. “I have somehow threaded my way between my two favorite worlds—horses and art history. Prof. Else has been the most fabulous mentor, and I really have her to thank for inspiring me to start on this path.” 

Explore how mentorship is fostered at Gettysburg College through our Personal Advising Teams.

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By Brooke Askin ’25
Photos submitted by Noa Leibson ’20
Posted: 01/20/25

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