Pam:  A great many successful university presidents have come from outside
the academic world.  They are skilled at fundraising, instituting "best
practices" in financial management and planning, and/or schmoozing the state
politicians for increased funding.  They would not qualify as members of the
faculty.

Increasingly this has been true for the other knowledge enterprises
including museums.  Top museum administrators require many of the same
qualifications and abilities as corporate CEOs.  One does not need to know
how to screw in a light bulb in order to be successful at the helm of
General Electric.

These types of entrepreneurs are the ones who have created the successful
auxiliary enterprises, including highly profitable gift shops (complete with
e-commerce nowadays), that help meet the expenses of the larger museums.

Political appointees, of course, fit into a different category altogether.
Their institutions need a figurehead, but at the second level there should
be highly qualified museum professionals.
Ross Weeks Jr.
Historic Crab Orchard Museum & Pioneer Park
Tazewell, Va.
http://histcrab.netscope.net

----- Original Message -----
Pamela Sezgin wrote:
> Well, I think many of us "mistrust" the museum leadership because many of
> these administrators have absolutely no museum training or experience.  I
> don't know the people at the Shedd so I'm speaking in generalizations and
not
> focusing on one museum in particular.  I'm also speaking from my 25 years
of
> experience......
>
> I've seen too many museums run into the ground by people who are political
> appointees who don't have the foggiest about our professional practices.

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).