SUCCESS STORY
By Nic Enright-Morin
M
useums have been around for centuries, dating back as far as Ancient Greece. They spark the imagination and bring pleasure to people of all ages. How often though, when you visit a museum, do you stop to think of all the effort that has gone into creating it? George Jacob has devoted his life to creating museums. Responsible for designing and planning more than 50 museums worldwide, his work has taken him to Singapore, Abu Dhabi, France and Egypt, as well as all over North America. It’s no wonder that his work has earned him an international reputation as one of the most innovative museum thinkers of our time. Born in Kochi, India, Jacob spent his formative years studying in Rajasthan, before winning the prestigious Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and a place at the University of Toronto. Although Jacob had offers from several universities, he chose Toronto for a special reason. “I have an historic link with the University of Toronto, as it’s the alma mater of my greatgrandfather, so I chose Canada primarily because of that. His picture still hangs at the university. It was quite inspirational and it was interesting to kind of walk in his footsteps.” After graduating with a master’s degree in museum studies, Jacob worked briefly in Quebec, but at the time work in his field was hard to come by in Canada. “One of the difficult times was after graduation, when I couldn’t find a job in Canada and I had to be a bit of a professional
Photos by Chris Beauchamp nomad, seeking out engagements overseas. But, in hindsight, those engagements with multiple museums added to my own expertise, and I was able to gain new perspectives on the potential of the museum design-build sector.” With a career that spans 26 years, Jacob’s list of accomplishments is impressive. The highlights include museum assignments in 11 countries (including founding director of four museums), developing the first master’s studio program in Canada on museum design at the University of Manitoba, as well as the first executive program on cultural leadership and diplomacy in the United States at the University of Texas. He is also an accomplished painter, sculptor and writer. He has published many articles, columns, three books and a magazine related to museum design. You would think a man who also trained at the Smithsonian Institution and studied at Yale would be effusive about his accomplishments, but Jacob is exceedingly modest. During a telephone conversation, the only time pride can be heard in his voice is when talking about museum projects he has worked on. Currently that delight is reserved for his latest magnum opus, the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in northwest Alberta. As the founding president and CEO (the only immigrant with such a position in Canada’s museum sector), he has been instrumental in planning, designing and implementing one of the fastest museum >>
George Jacob’s reputation as a museum professional preceded him 10
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January 2016
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