Trailblazing Cultural Property Scholar and Violin Maker to Receive Honorary Degree

Shapreau is an internationally respected scholar, attorney, and violin maker whose career has focused on the creation, preservation, and recovery of cultural objects and their histories, including musical material culture lost as a result of the Nazi era.  Her work has contributed to a reconstruction of this history and the return of historically significant cultural materials to families and institutions, while advancing global understanding of cultural property law and provenance research.

A senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley's Institute of European Studies, a continuing lecturer at Berkeley Law, and curator of the Ansley K. Salz Collection of Stringed Instruments, Shapreau brings a rare interdisciplinary perspective to her work, combining legal expertise, historical research, and hands-on craftsmanship.

Over the course of her career, Shapreau has led groundbreaking investigations into looted musical instruments and archives, including rare violins, manuscripts, and collections displaced during the Nazi era. As director of the Lost Music Project, she has worked with international scholars and institutions to reconstruct the histories of these objects and make that knowledge accessible to the public. Her research has been supported by major grants, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and has been featured in leading publications and international media.

Her scholarship spans more than three decades and includes dozens of articles, books, and reports that have contributed to the fields of cultural property studies, law, and musicology. Through this work, she has brought attention to the ethical, legal, and human dimensions of cultural loss and recovery, influencing policy discussions and professional practices across disciplines.

Shapreau's path began at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she designed her own interdisciplinary degree blending art, music, and industrial arts. Graduating magna cum laude in 1983, she built a foundation that would inform her lifelong commitment to integrating creative practice with scholarly and legal inquiry. Her early experiences studying music and apprenticing in violin making shaped both her technical expertise and her understanding of the cultural significance of instruments.

She has remained closely connected to academic communities through teaching, research, and public scholarship. Her lectures and keynote presentations have reached audiences across the United States and Europe, addressing topics such as provenance research and best practices, curation, restitution, and the global circulation of musical heritage.

Shapreau's work bridges disciplines and knowledge systems, uniting scientific analysis, historical investigation, artistic practice, and legal reasoning. This integrated approach has positioned her as a leader in efforts to reconstruct histories, recover and preserve cultural heritage, particularly in cases involving complex questions of ownership and historical justice.

Most recently, Shapreau located and identified a 316-year-old Stradivarius violin, an effort featured in the New York Times. Known as the 1709 Mendelssohn Stradivarius, the violin was believed to have been plundered during the chaos at the end of World War II and lost forever.

The honorary doctorate recognizes not only her professional achievements but also her broader impact on preserving cultural memory and advancing accountability in the stewardship of artistic works. Her career reflects the kind of hands-on learning and interdisciplinary thinking that defines a Cal Poly Humboldt education.

During the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences ceremony at Commencement, Shapreau will be honored for a body of work that continues to influence international scholarship and inspire historical research, cultural preservation, and restitution.

«Cal Poly Humboldt, its faculty and students, inspired and fostered my early scholarly interests and pursuits, without which I would have taken a different path through life. I am honored and very grateful for this unexpected and generous recognition,» Shapreau says.