New NHM President
New NHM President appointed to replace Dr. Pisano:
Rachel
Bauch, Polskin Arts
bauchr@finnpartners.com; (323) 841-4139
bauchr@finnpartners.com; (323) 841-4139
DR. LORI
BETTISON-VARGA IS NAMED NEW PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR
OF THE NATURAL HISTORY
MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY
Dr. Bettison-Varga,
Currently President of Scripps College,
Succeeds
Longstanding President Dr. Jane Pisano
LOS ANGELES, CA, [June 30, 2015] — Sarah Meeker Jensen,
President of the Board of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County,
today announced that earth scientist, education advocate and college president
Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga has been named President and Director of the Natural
History Museum. Dr. Bettison-Varga is expected to begin her tenure at the NHM
family of museums—NHM in Exposition Park, the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum and
the William S. Hart Museum—as early as autumn 2015, succeeding Dr. Jane G.
Pisano, who has led NHM since 2001. Following Dr. Pisano’s announcement in
September 2014 of her intended retirement, Dr. Bettison-Varga was selected
through an international search. Dr. Pisano will remain at NHM until Dr.
Bettison-Varga assumes her duties, ensuring a smooth transition. The
appointment is pending approval by the County Board of Supervisors.
“Lori
Bettison-Varga combines proven leadership ability and managerial skill with
hands-on scientific expertise and a passion for public education,” Sarah Meeker
Jensen said. “She has the vision and talent to move the NHM family of museums
into the next phase of our evolution, carrying into the future the
transformation into a museum of nature in addition to natural and cultural
history. On behalf of the Board, I offer our profound thanks to Jane Pisano for
her unprecedented achievements at NHM and welcome Lori Bettison-Varga, who
brings us to the beginning of a new era.”
Dr.
Bettison-Varga, a geologist who received her Ph.D. from the University of
California Davis, comes to NHM after serving for six years as President and
W.M. Keck Foundation Presidential Chair at Scripps College in Claremont,
California. As President of Scripps, she enhanced the national presence and
visibility of the college, resulting in a 20 percent increase in annual
applications for admission; implemented policies to foster greater transparency
and community engagement; initiated strategic planning for diversity and
sustainability; and inaugurated a comprehensive campaign with a $175 million
target, raising more than $115 million in gifts and pledges from July 2009 to
the present. She cultivated a $5 million gift to design innovative programming
that combines leadership theory and practice in the new LASPA Center and successfully
integrated alumnae perspectives with the goals and aspirations of current
faculty, staff, students and Trustees to advance the mission of the college. In
each year of her presidency, Scripps College recorded a budget surplus.
“Scripps College is stronger as a result of Lori Bettison-Varga’s vision and commitment to the next generation of women leaders,” said Mark Herron, chair of the Board of Trustees. “She has elevated Scripps’ national and international reputation while expanding resources and opportunities for students, and we are extremely grateful for her service.”
“Scripps College is stronger as a result of Lori Bettison-Varga’s vision and commitment to the next generation of women leaders,” said Mark Herron, chair of the Board of Trustees. “She has elevated Scripps’ national and international reputation while expanding resources and opportunities for students, and we are extremely grateful for her service.”
Lori Bettison-Varga said, “The Natural History Museum is an iconic Los Angeles institution that has a major impact in helping audiences of all ages appreciate the natural and cultural worlds, right at home and across the globe. I vividly remember how my childhood trips to NHM in Exposition Park and the La Brea Tar Pits fueled my love of science, my understanding of the effect that humans have on the environment, my awareness of the incredibly rich and diverse flora and fauna of Southern California, and my fascination with the dynamic tectonic powers that have shaped and formed the Los Angeles Basin. Having seen the dramatic transformation over the past decade at NHM under the leadership of Dr. Pisano, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead this institution, taking up initiatives that range from Citizen Science and educational outreach to bring science and urban nature to all Angelenos, to the enhancement of the experience at the La Brea Tar Pits.”
Dr.
Bettison-Varga currently serves the interests of the private independent
college sector as a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of
Independent California Colleges and Universities and of the National Association
of Independent Colleges and Universities (for which she is the chair of the
Policy Analysis and Public Relations Committee). She also serves on the
executive committees of the Annapolis Group and the Women’s College Coalition.
She served as chair of the Council of Presidents of the Claremont University
Consortium from 2012 to 2013 and was a member of the Board of Directors of the
National Merit Scholarship Foundation from 2011 to 2013. She was honored with
the UC Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.
Dr.
Bettison-Varga earned her B.A. in geology from the University of California
Santa Barbara before going on to her doctorate at UC Davis. She began her
career on the faculties of Pomona College (1990-92) and The College of Wooster
in Wooster, Ohio (1992-2007) Prior to entering administration, Bettison-Varga
was an active teacher/scholar, receiving the prestigious National Young
Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in 1994 and publishing
widely on geology and academic pedagogy. From 2004 to 2007 she also served as
Director of the Keck Geology Consortium in Claremont, California. From 2007 to
2009 she held the position of Provost and Dean of Faculty at Whitman College in
Walla Walla, Washington. A Claremont resident,
she is married to geologist Bob Varga and has three children.
At
NHM, Dr. Pisano led a decade-long initiative that remade virtually every aspect
of the museum in time for the 100th anniversary celebration in 2013. Physically
and programmatically, Dr. Pisano’s initiatives restored NHM’s magnificent
original 1913 building and brought new light into its renovated spaces, led the
creation of a range of award-winning new permanent exhibitions, constructed new
facilities including the Otis Booth Pavilion and doubled the museum’s combined
indoor and outdoor public space. Organizationally, Dr. Pisano built a
collaborative, visitor-oriented culture among all of NHM’s staff, instilling
new purpose and vitality throughout the institution. The result was the
transformation of NHM into an interactive, dynamic center for public
engagement, visitor experiences and scientific enlightenment about our natural
and cultural worlds, which in 2014 enjoyed record attendance of 1.2 million
visitors. In collaboration with the Board, NHM is now closing out the final $11
million fundraising for the landmark $135 million NHM Next campaign.
Most
recently, Dr. Pisano has focused on bolstering the scientific program of the La
Brea Tar Pits Museum, heightening the museum’s engagement with the public and
ensuring the protection and preservation of the La Brea Tar Pits for future
generations.
In
her new position, Dr. Bettison-Varga will lead the future master plan process
for reimagining the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. Dr. Bettison-Varga stated,
“The La Brea Tar Pits Museum presents perhaps the Natural History Museum’s most
exciting potential for transformation in the future. This world-famous fossil
site can bring lessons from the Ice Age, and insights into climate change, to
visitors from Los Angeles and beyond.”
About the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. It is open daily 9:30 am to 5 pm. The Museum was the first dedicated museum building in Los Angeles, opening its doors in 1913. It has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history—with more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. The Natural History Family of Museums includes the NHM, the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum (Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire), and the William S. Hart Park and Museum (Newhall, California). The Family of Museums serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. It is open daily 9:30 am to 5 pm. The Museum was the first dedicated museum building in Los Angeles, opening its doors in 1913. It has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history—with more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. The Natural History Family of Museums includes the NHM, the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum (Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire), and the William S. Hart Park and Museum (Newhall, California). The Family of Museums serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education.
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