Museum Director

The museum director is typically the head curator of a particular location. They frequently are extremely knowledgeable about their subject matter and very passionate about it.

For those looking to become a museum director at a larger and more established institution, it will generally be necessary to obtain a doctoral degree on, or relating to, the subject matter of the museum. For small institutions, a successful museum director may only be required to have a master's degree.

Today, many colleges and universities offer specific programs geared toward training qualified museum directors. These include programs, such as museum studies and arts administration. Students are also encouraged to take courses in curatorial practice. Many successful museum directors will also find it beneficial to obtain two doctoral degrees. One may focus specifically on museum studies while the second degree can have a more specialized focus.

It will be beneficial to a person wishing to become a museum director to publish papers and actively speak at conferences relating to the subject matter because this will help them to expand their expertise. They will also be required to understand any laws that might affect the museum or ethical issues involving the collection.

While the student wishing to become a museum director is finishing up schooling, it will be important that they also try to work in a museum as an intern to help gather the essential experience that they will need. Finding an internship at a museum is difficult as it is a highly sought-after position. Often, this type of position is unpaid.

Once the candidate finishes their schooling, they will need to obtain a position at the museum, such as associate curator. They will then have to work hard to progress through the chain of promotion, which will eventually lead to a position of museum director for successful candidates.

A museum director can administer a variety of places. While they are typically found in a museum, such as a natural science museum, it is also possible to find one administering a zoo or historic site.

It will be the museum director's responsibility to manage the acquisition of items for the museum's collection and to make sure that the pieces in the collection are properly stored when not on display. This includes making sure that each piece of the collection is properly categorized.

It will also be up to the museum director to negotiate any loans to the museum and to arrange for the museum's loan of any one of their collections. A museum director can be responsible for authenticating any piece of work that might be a part of any collection.

On a more administrative level, a museum curator will need to oversee research projects that the museum is responsible for and write grants to earn money for the institution. They will likely be involved in numerous fundraising activities for the museum as well.

One of the most beneficial qualities for a museum director is passion. The museum director will spend much of his or her life involved with a particular subject matter, and if the candidate has passion for that subject matter, then their overall success will increase.

Since the museum director is responsible for many of the administrative issues at a museum, including fundraising, it will be important for the candidate to have strong knowledge of business administration and public relations as well. Museum directors will also need a bit of creativity since they will need to design many of the exhibits at their institution.

Depending on where the museum director is employed, their overall salary can be greatly affected. The median salary for a museum director in May 2006 was $46,300. Between the 25th and 75th percentile, museum directors earned between $34,410 and $71,740. The top ten percent of museum directors made more than $80,030 while the lowest ten percent earned less than $26,320. A museum director employed by the federal government could expect to make, on average, $80,780.

The museum director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in New York is Philippe de Montebello. De Montebello has served as the director of the museum since 1977. He is the longest-serving museum director at any of the world's major art institutions. Philippe de Montebello did announce his retirement, which will occur at the end of 2008. He intends to teach at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts.

General John R. Dailey serves as the museum director at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington. This four-star general began his career with NASM in 2000 after acting as the associate director of NASA for seven years.

The Smithsonian Institution is made up of 19 museums, the National Zoo, and nine centers for research. It is the largest organization in the world that is made up of museums and research facilities. A trip to Washington, D.C. will allow visitors to experience everything from the African Art Museum to the Natural History museum and Portrait Gallery.

The American Museum of Natural History is located in New York City. Each year, the museum receives approximately four million visitors. It also happens to be one of the largest museums in the world with 46 exhibition walls that are permanent in the facility. Their collection contains more than 32 million specimens, but only a tiny portion of these specimens are exhibited at any given time.

It should be no surprise that the top cities for museum directors are large cities in the country that feature a large number of cultural events. Washington, D.C., with its numerous different museums, is the top city for a museum director to find a job. New York City is also a top city for museum director jobs.