Vesterheim Director Steve Johnson announces plans to retire

Vesterheim Museum Executive Director Steven Johnson on Friday announced his intention to retire in September 2016.

Johnson has been with Vesterheim in multiple capacities since 1977 and has served as the museum's Executive Director since 2009.

Johnson chose to announce his retirement date now so that the museum's Board of Trustees can conduct a thorough search for his replacement and there can be a suitable transition period during which he can work as Special Projects Consultant alongside his replacement.

A Search Committee has been formed.  The Executive Director's position, to be retitled "President and CEO," will be advertised with the American Alliance of Museums, the Iowa Museum Association, and on other professional bulletin boards.  The position would be available in the summer of 2015 or earlier, depending on the selected candidate. More information about the position opening is available at www.vesterheim.org.
   
"Steve Johnson has spent decades working to make Vesterheim a forward-looking, stable, and high quality museum," Vesterheim Board Chair Kate Martinson said. "He has spent the majority of his career serving Vesterheim and we are honored that, once his successor is in place, he will assume the temporary position of Special Projects Consultant. This will create continuity for the institution while taking full advantage of Steve's expertise and experience."

Said Johnson, "It has been my privilege to work with the most dedicated staff imaginable and I count myself lucky to have met so many people who have shared their own stories with me, people who honor their heritage and value the lessons history can teach us...And I am deeply grateful to Marion and Lila Nelson, former Vesterheim director and registrar, because early on they nurtured my own interest in the museum field even as they worked to transform Vesterheim into the internationally recognized institution it is today."