AAM Board Election Slate:
Class of 2008-2011

AAM’s nominating committee is charged with finding the most qualified individuals who represent the diversity of the field (discipline, region, gender, ethnicity, etc.) to serve on the AAM Board of Directors. In November, the board approved the nominating committee’s election slate for the 2008-2011 class. The slate includes leaders who can further AAM’s mission to help museums better serve the public.
 
The 2008-11 slate proposes candidates for chair, vice chair and seven board members-at-large. Following you will find photos of each candidate and their response to the question – What do you believe to be the major concerns facing the museum community? Indicate skills or experience that you would contribute as a member of the Board of Directors of AAM. You will also find a list of the 2008 Nomination Committee members as well as the current AAM Board. AAM uses a single-slate election process.  Commonly used by similar organizations, this process requires the nominating committee to present one candidate per vacancy. Under AAM’s constitution and bylaws, members also can nominate additional candidates by petition. Nominating a member for chair and vice chair requires signatures from 5 percent of the association’s individual or institutional voting members (859); board member-at-large requires signatures from 3 percent (515).  Petition forms can be obtained from the Presidents Office, 202/218-9101; e-mail: pgossett@aam-us.org, and must be sent to the AAM offices by 5 p.m. EST on February 1, 2008. If candidates are presented via petition, a contested election will be held using ballots.


 

PROPOSED CANDIDATE FOR CHAIR
1 position, 1 candidate, Term 2008 - 2010

Carl R. Nold, President and CEO Historic New England, Boston, MA. Since I first joined AAM as a student 30 years ago, I have watched and participated in its growth and expanding professionalism. I consider my involvement to be a key part of my own professional development, a source of ideas and friendships with colleagues, and an avenue to ready assistance with the challenges I face for my institution. AAM must offer that same experience to the next generation of museum leaders.

 
Over the five years I have served on the AAM board, the organization has developed a vision of opening its doors to all segments of the museum community—as a partner, resource, collaborator and leader. The challenges facing the museum world change constantly, but there is no doubt that we need to find common ground among all museum disciplines and sizes to strengthen our image before the public, funders and public policy makers. Among our common needs are to counter the constantly increasing demands on people’s time by promoting the value of involvement with museums, using technology to benefit our work rather than having it distract from the authentic experience, and reinforcing that museums are essential to communities, not optional. 

With our new CEO Ford Bell now on board, AAM has the opportunity to rethink how we work. We must sustain direct benefits to our members while doing more to think about the future of America’s museums.  his means engaging foundations and other funders more than ever before, and increasing interaction among emerging museum professional, independent professionals, experienced museum leaders and expects from outside the museum world. The benefit of the effort will be shared among all museums. The AAM board of directors is charged with leading that effort, and I look forward to working with that exceptional group of museum thinkers and leaders to carry out the AAM Strategic Agenda to the fullest.  

PROPOSED CANDIDATE FOR VICE CHAIR
1 position, 1 candidate, Term 2008 - 2009

Kathy Dwyer Southern, President and CEO National Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C. This is a time of exciting change and growth at AAM. Under the leadership of Ford Bell, our new President and CEO, AAM has begun to implement the Strategic Framework. This is my second term on the board and I was an active participant in the Framework’s multi- year development which was based on listening sessions from the disciplines, a review of AAM member concerns, and an analysis of the major issues facing the field. I believe the Framework is central to the ongoing vitality of the Association and its ability to fully realize its mission and vision and it is especially exciting to have the opportunity to work with Ford and the board in pursuing its realization.

During the past five years as a board member I have had the opportunity to work with many of you on a number of important projects some of which are fundamental to the Framework’s realization. I chaired the Nominating Committee for two years and with the Committee witnessed first hand the extraordinary leadership that exists within our field.  The Committee also learned of the ongoing need for leadership development at all levels and it is heartening to see this become one of the four goals of the Framework.
I was honored to Co-Chair with Bonnie Pitman our Centennial Celebration last year.  This was an important step in our ongoing need to communicate the value of museums, the first goal of the Framework. This goal has become a major initiative of the AAM and will provide a place for each of us to become involved.

Chairing the National Program Committee is an especially rewarding activity and I relished this work with a terrific Committee and AAM’s superb staff. AAM has had a long proud history of “providing the intellectual resources and services to support excellence in museums and to advance the field” the Framework’s third goal. We will have the opportunity in the years ahead to build on our strong history of service to the field.

Finally the “encouragement, pursuit and support of collaborations at home and abroad” goal four, has been a life long core area of interest for me. Having worked with, and participated in coalitions, partnerships and associations throughout my 30 years of professional experience, I believe the concept of collaboration is central to the ongoing success of the field. AAM can realize its role in different ways, as leader, as convener and as facilitator, but always the value of museums is strengthened through these collaborative efforts. As a member of the ICOM-US board I am especially excited about the opportunity for increased collaborative efforts between AAM and ICOM-US in addressing our international needs and look forward to supporting and encouraging these efforts.

I look forward to working with the AAM board and staff and all of you on the realization of the Framework. Our work is fundamental to the success of each of our museums and, I believe, to the success of our field.

PROPOSED CANDIDATE FOR BOARD MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
6 positions, 6 candidates; TERM 2008 - 2011

Roberta Conner, Director Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Pendleton, OR. Beyond the financial sustainability challenges most cultural non-profits face, we share the mutual opportunity to redefine our roles as the citizens’ organizations, the mirrors of modern knowledge and the trustworthy storytellers accountable to our communities. There are museum professionals who wonder why tribal museums are being constructed, why another telling of U.S. history is necessary and why the way collections are handled is different in tribal institutions. These are all legitimate, reasonable queries.

The answers are: because American Indians are still here, able to tell our history and teach about our culture, in our own words, languages, and voices; because we believe others may benefit or learn from our vast time in our homelands; and because we believe each object has a spirit of its own.

Tribal museums are unlike most museums in that our stakeholders are the very core of our community – our tribal people. Like all museums, we share the challenge of collecting, accurately interpreting, and faithfully preserving the objects and documents that belong to our constituents and our ancestors.

Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is an experiment that has taught me how very different our museum is in two respects: our objects are teachers that were never intended to last forever and true value and respect for the objects is manifested when we use them as teachers, instructing us to keep alive ages old life ways.

How I may represent the myriad characteristics of many small rural, tribal facilities is through my knowledge of indigenous ways of knowing, teaching and honoring. I would be humbled by the privilege of serving in such a role.

James Hanken, Curator and Professor of Biology Harvard, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, MA. Museums play an essential role in contemporary society, yet they must do a better job at convincing governments, foundations and citizens-at-large of this role in return for their support, financial and otherwise. Museums also find themselves in an increasingly complex and competitive communications environment, in which they no longer are the principal, let alone sole, purveyor of cultural, artistic, anthropological and scientific information to the general public.

Finally, research-intensive museums have an especially difficult challenge to support high-quality scholarship while not at the same time neglecting long-term obligations to collections growth and conservation.

I am a college professor with more than 30 years experience in university-based natural history museums as a student (undergraduate and graduate), advisory board member, curator, and, most recently, administrator. This experience includes long periods of service and training at both state-funded public universities and private institutions. As Director of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, I lead the world’s largest university-based natural history museum, which provides abundant exposure to the rewards and challenges of programmatic development, fundraising, facilities planning, collections conservation, and personnel management in a notoriously complex working environment. As a practicing scientist, I am very familiar with the requirements, imperatives and opportunities of museum-based research.  I also serve on numerous panels and advisory committees, which address a variety of pressing museum issues. Finally, I regularly teach a freshman seminar, Museums, which introduces undergraduates to museums of all kinds—their people and collections, problems and promises, past and future.

Lyndel King, Director Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN. When I think about museums, and my philosophy about museums, it tends to be pragmatically rather than theoretically, because I draw on the skills and experience I have gained from more than 25 years as a museum professional. I try to reflect my ideas about museums in my actions.

One of the first things I did when I began to work in museums was to join AAM. It was a great help and guide to me during those early years in museums. I attended meetings and workshops, and as I gained confidence as a professional, I organized programs for AAM annual meetings. Through those experiences, I formed lasting collegial friendships that have sustained me: while the AAM provides many great services to the museum profession, one of its most important is to provide opportunities for development of peer-to peer relationships. I believe in the power of those relationships.

For most of my career in museums, I have been either curator or director of a small to medium sized art museum, so I understand the special needs and interests of museums of that size. I have been through great expansion and growth—and financial cutbacks. I understand how both of those situations affect museums of that size and what they need from peers and from organizations such as AAM during those times.

I believe in professional practices in American museums. As I advanced in experience, I have served the profession through AAM as a peer reviewer, and on other AAM committees. In 1999, I was awarded the American Association of Museums Award in recognition of Superior Voluntary Service as an AAM Peer Reviewer. In addition to my peer review work for AAM, I served on an Association of Art Museum Directors task force to update that organization’s professional practices document for art museums. I have testified before a Senate committee on behalf of American museums about the issue of Nazi looted art.

From these experiences, I have gained an understanding of the inner workings of many museums besides my own. This has given me a good sense of the similarities and differences among and between museums, and a respect for those. As much as I believe in professionalism, and standard practices, I believe museums should not be homogenized. We reflect our communities and our individual disciplines. We must respect our differences while investing in standards that will guide and inspire our audiences, our staffs and boards, and ourselves as individuals. I would bring that respect for both standards and difference to the AAM board.

Museums have great potential and great responsibilities. They hold the objects that represent our histories, our cultures, and our art—the greatest achievements of human beings. And, they hold collections that help us understand how the world works and our place in it. I believe that one of the greatest challenges of museums in the 21st century is to maintain our balance.

As museum professionals we must take the responsibility for preservation of our collections seriously, as well as our responsibilities to our audiences. We must remain ethical and we must balance the budget. We must respond to our donors and stay true to our core values. It is not that all these are contradictory goals, but they do vie for attention and resources. Being a leader in the museum profession involves thinking seriously and making decisions about priorities.

I believe strongly that while museums can be operated in a business-like way, we are not businesses. We can be efficient in our operations but we must remain effective as museums. We should take what works for us from the corporate world, but not be seduced by the success of business in America, to believe that is the only model for success. We should foster pride in museums and the unique things they add to the lives of our communities.

Museums, particularly art museums, face the challenge of technology. We must differentiate the experience of the “real thing” that we offer from the virtual experience so prevalent in our culture. At the same time, we must reach new generations where they live, and that is in a world of technology. We cannot be left behind. We must balance our responsible for offering an experience of authenticity with our use of technology to reach and educate our viewers.

American museums should fully participate in the international community of museums. To put this belief into practice, I have participated in several international museum conferences, and serve on the steering committee for ICOM’s International Committee for University Museums and Collections. I regularly participate in seminars on museum management in Russia and Eastern Europe, to help provide museums that were once part of the Soviet Union with management skills and tools to make the transition to the new reality of a market economy.

We have a responsibility to take a leadership role, and to share our expertise and learn from our colleagues worldwide. We must help define what it means to be a museum in a “globalized” world. We must balance and combine our participation in a global museum world with our responsibilities to serve the needs of our local, regional, and national communities.

I believe that American museums may be in transition to a new economic and political reality. Museums demand inspired leadership at the national—and global—level. I think I have experiences that could be useful on the board of AAM, as the organization seeks to provide leadership and services that will help American museums maintain their balance.

Douglas G. Myers, Executive Director Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, CA. I feel the following are some of the key challenges that face our industry. Concerns in the area of leisure travel are caused by the rising cost of fuel and its impact on other goods and services. Air travel delays are another factor, but some improvement has been made with government response such as opening military routes to commercial airlines during Thanksgiving travel days.

We should take advantage of the devalued US dollar which increases desire for non-US visitors to travel to the US and improve opportunities to tap into this market. Our industry needs take advantage of the continuing trend of shorter leisure time gateways (2-3 days) with some frequency.

Although I have an understanding and great appreciation for zoo/museum/ botanical garden collections, I believe my chief asset is my expertise in the business side of museum, zoos and botanical gardens. As CEO/Executive Director of the Zoological Society of San Diego, I oversee our three entities, World Famous San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and the center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES). Currently, these entities attract over 5,000,000 guests and educate 240,000 children annually, with an operating budget of $208,000,000, while servicing over 260,000 household members of the Zoological Society. In addition, I feel that my recent appointment to the National Museum Library Services Board will expand my knowledge of these types of organizations. I hope to use this knowledge to better serve both the AAM and NMLS boards.   

Bonnie Pitman, Deputy Director Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX. Museums are vital community resources, connecting citizens to their cultural history and providing an understanding of the world around them. They serve as public forums, places of learning, and repositories of artistic treasures. Yet these are challenging times for museums.

A shifting economic landscape and volatile political challenges are placing new strains on institutions around the country. There is greater need than ever to secure funding and carefully manage enormously complex organizations. And still, museums are expanding. Museums clearly have value in communities, as evidenced by robust attendance and  the building and expansion of museums. Going forward, the ability to innovate, experiment, and improve our collections must be balanced with a determined effort to raise the stature of museums in the public eye. For only when museums are fully utilized by the public will they be fully supported. To bring about this change, the AAM should facilitate the collaborations at local, regional, national, and international levels that are critical to building and sustaining community support for the future of museums. Moreover, the AAM must play an increasingly important role advocating for museums locally, nationally and internationally. Broader recognition of the important role museums play will be mutually beneficial to both individual institutions and the AAM.

My passion for museums and the work that we do is based on my more than 30 years of experience. My professional work and service in the field has been focused on the ways in which museums use their collections and resources to engage with their communities.  I have been a museum director, educator, curator, and administrator in art and children’s museums and currently serve as Deputy Director and Director Elect (June 2008) of the Dallas Museum of Art. I have served in positions at the Seattle Art Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art and as Executive Director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I was honored to serve as chair and as a member of the American Association of Museums (AAM) Accreditation Commission for 12 years.  My work with the Commission provided an understanding of the complexities in caring for and interpreting both object-based and living collections as well as the diverse needs of both large and small museums. As chair of the committee that wrote Excellence and Equity: Education and the Public Dimension of Museums (E&E), I had the unique opportunity of working with and learning from museum professionals throughout the country on the development of this policy statement. Over the years I have served on the Board of Directors for AAM and ICOM and have participated actively as a member of various related professional committees and regional associations. It would be an honor to join AAM’s leadership team and to serve as a member of its Board of Directors.

Nancy Stueber, President Oregon Museum of Science and Industry – OMSI, Portland, OR. The museum community is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Our traditional role in connecting communities, stimulating the exchange of ideas, and providing experiences that give meaning and context to cultural events is needed more than ever in our fast-paced, technological society. At the same time, the traditional methods and mediums for doing our work must adapt to be relevant and responsive to our audiences and those who support us.

Key areas for our field to explore and advance include:
•    Understanding the value proposition that we hold with increasingly diverse audiences; how our institutions respond to community needs and serve as provocateurs and agents of change
•    Measuring our effectiveness; providing data and performance benchmarks to inform management decisions
•    Making the case for the value of museums; being invited to the table when policy and funding decisions are being made
•    Developing effective leaders, current and future, as stewards of the cultural trust
I believe that associations of people and organizations that share common values provide a powerful way to address common questions and concerns and stimulate effective action. I am honored to be considered for the Board of Directors, and I would work to help AAM play that unifying role for the museum field.

I have been privileged to spend 26 years working in the field I love. My work aligns with my core values and I do it with passion and joy. I bring a breadth of experience, having worked in a small nature center, established award-winning programs in rural communities, built a major exhibition business, and currently lead a regional science center with an annual budget of $19 million. I have worked internationally as an IPAM participant, formed the Pacific Rim Exhibit Collaborative, and presented at the World Congress of Science Centres meetings in Calcutta, Canberra, and Rio de Janeiro.

Professional collaboration is important to me and I would bring to the board my experience in leading a variety of successful partnerships and networks among museums. I am currently Vice President of the Association of Science Technology Centers (ASTC), immediate past chair for the Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA), and have served as chair of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (SMEC) and Exhibits Research Collaborative (ERC). In the community I am a founder of the Portland Area Attractions group and the Oregon Nonprofit Association, serve on the board of the Oregon Natural Step Network, and Portland Streetcar, Inc. I have also served on the Governor’s Commission for the commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon, the Science Advisory Council of the University of Portland, and as a participating member the Portland Business Alliance, the Association for Corporate Growth, Portland Aerial Tram, Inc., and the City Club of Portland.


PROPOSED CANDIDATE FOR BOARD MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
1 position, 1 candidate; TERM 2006-2009
(To complete unexpired term of Kathy Dwyer Southern)

Gail Harrity, Chief Operating Officer Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA Museums need to be at the center of the cultural and educational life in their communities and recognized as important, increasingly indispensable resources in their regions. Museum initiatives, such as major capital campaigns, renovation and expansion projects, and a diverse array of programs are essential for every Museum’s long-term success.

Museums must engage and gain the full support of its community – individual citizens as well as the city and state government, corporations and foundations. Well-developed strategic plans are essential to build this comprehensive support, raise the funds, and prudently implement plans to maintain and enhance the excellence of each Museum’s collections and programs. 

I hope that my experience in long-range planning and management of the financial, marketing, membership, and overall operations of museums, coupled with developing goals and strategies to implement them, will provide a perspective to help serve the mission of AAM.

Board members Continuing Service in 2008:

Immediate Past Chair (2008-2010)
Irene Hirano, President & CEO, Japanese American National Museum

Board Members-at-Large
Class of 2006 - 2009
Georgi Contiguglia, Colorado State Historic Preservation Officer, Denver, CO
Steven High, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
Cristián Samper, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Howard Taylor, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX
John Wetenhall, John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL.

Class of 2007 – 2010
Ted Beattie, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
Kinshasha Holman Conwill, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
Ron Forman, Audubon Nature Institute, New Orleans, LA
Allyn Lord, Shilo Museum of Ozark History, Springdale, AR
Juanita Moore, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI
Dennis M. Wint, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA.

AAM Board Nominating Committee 2008
Cristián Samper, Committee Chair
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Betty Brewer, Minnetrista, Muncie, IN
Spencer Crew, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH
Bill Eiland, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA
Dee Harris, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Kansas City, MO
Phyllis Rabineau, Chicago History Museum, Chicago, IL
Jeff Rudolph, California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA