MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTER, Baltimore, MD

Senior Director of Exhibits. 2003 – Present

Oversees exhibitions and design department. Responsibilities include grant-writing, exhibit and program planning, prototyping, implementation and evaluation, strategic planning, budgets, staff management. Member of senior management team active in museum policy and strategic planning of new 40,000 square foot museum addition.

Responsible for the overall design, development, fabrication and installation of seven new, interactive exhibitions on the human body, dinosaurs, dynamic earth, hands-on physics, Chesapeake Bay which opened in May, 2004 with substantial increased attendance. Currently developing interactive visitor center for Irvine Nature Center, opening in summer 2008 and an interactive exhibition on cells, opening March, 2009.

INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM, Philadelphia, PA

V.P. of Interpretation. 1999 – 2003

Oversaw education, exhibition and library departments. Responsibilities included exhibit and program planning, grant-writing, prototyping and evaluation, strategic planning, budgets, staff management, group sales, museum policy creation. Worked with formal and informal education groups to develop unique school and weekend programming. Collaborated with arts groups to develop unique theatre and music programs. Introduced interactive exhibits to increase family audience. Led multidisciplinary teams in core exhibit planning and development of interpretive museum agenda.

• Secured grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Annenberg, and William Penn Foundations.
• Principle Investigator for an inquiry-based exhibition on boat science funded by The National Science Foundation.
• Best of Philly Award for Family Programming 2001.

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE SCIENCE MUSEUM, Philadelphia, PA

Sr. Exhibit Developer. 1985 - 1999

Developed hands-on interactive permanent and traveling science exhibits. Responsibilities included grant-writing, project management, evaluation, budgets, educational materials, strategic planning. Collaborated on several Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative traveling exhibits. Text writer and designer of interactive exhibits.

• Principle Investigator on a NSF-funded traveling exhibit on the brain.
• Project leader and senior exhibit developer on NSF-funded Powers of Nature exhibit. Senior exhibit developer on NSF-funded exhibit on Aging with Boston Museum of Science and NIH-funded exhibit on Women's Health with MSC.
• Project leader on CDC traveling exhibit on AIDS.

HAHNEMANN UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, PA

Internship in Psychiatry. 1984 – 1985

ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY, New York, NY

Medical Research Assistant. 1979 – 1980

Education

1984

• M.D. New York University School of Medicine.

1974

• M.F.A. Creative Writing, Boston University.

1973

• B.A. English & Music, Oberlin College.

Publications

• Gittel and the Bell, Kar-Ben Copies Inc., Rockville, Maryland, 1987.
• What About AIDS? A New Direction for Science Museums, Museums Journal, 1999.
• How To Make Controversial Exhibits That Work, Museums Journal, 1999.

Film/Theatre/Media

• Journey With Me: Stories of Aging, with Liz Lerman Dance Co., 1999.
• Ben Franklin, Scientist, video theater, with The Independent Eye, 1998.
• The Wonderful World of Medicine, produced by Interactive Videodisc Science Collaborative, 1993
• Tour of the Brain, interactive video with U of Washington, 1992.
• When the Brain Goes Wrong, film documentary, with Tulip Films, 1992.
• It's All in Your Head, A Satellite Field Trip, Philadelphia public television, 1993.
• Cranial Pursuits, a twelve-part series on the brain, CBC radio, 1992.

Conferences

• American Assoc. of Museums Annual Museum (AAM) Exhibition Critique, speaker, 2003.
• Rethinking the Role of Controversy, speaker, U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum, 1996
• Exhibiting Sex in the Museum, speaker, 1994 AAM Annual Meeting.
• Traveling Exhibits as Agents of Change, session leader, 1994 Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Meeting.

Awards & Recognition

• Silver Medal, Journey With Me: Stories of Aging, 1999.
• American Association of Museums Muse Award, The Wonderful World of Medicine, 1993.
• Nebraska Interactive Media Award, The Wonderful World of Medicine, 1993.
• Cindy Award, Tour of the Brain, interactive video, 1992.
• Silver Apple Award, When the Brain Goes Wrong, 1992.
• Poets-in-the-Schools, 1977.
• Scholarship in Creative Writing MFA, Boston University, 1974.
• Ford Foundation Grant, Communication Through the Arts, 1973.