AIRPARK Buzz
The board for Scottsdale Museum of the West Inc., the nonprofit that runs the museum, has named Dr. W. James Burns as the organization’s new executive director. (Photo by Pablo Robles)
Future Leader Museum of the West puts plans in motion for executive director position
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By Wayne Schutsky cottsdale’s Museum of the West has announced a leadership shakeup and succession plan for founding director and CEO Mike Fox. The board of trustees hired Dr. W. James Burns to fill a newly created executive director position at the museum, which opened in 2015. Fox, who has over 50 years experience working in museums, has led the nonprofit that operates the museum since 2008. “The best thing we ever did was hire the guy sitting next to me, Mike Fox, because of his great history in putting these things together,” says former Scottsdale Councilmember Jim Bruner, chairman of the board since 2007. Fox has committed to remaining in the CEO post through 2024, at which point it is anticipated Burns will take over those duties, according to museum leadership. Scottsdale Museum of the West Inc. operates the museum under a contract with the city, which owns the building. It began the search for an executive director over two years ago at Fox’s behest. Burns, who comes to Museum of the West after three years as executive director of the Arizona Historical Society, will start at Scott-
sdale’s Museum of the West in mid-October. He will be in charge of responsible of dayto-day management of museum operations, including staffing, creative exhibition and public programming development, marketing, fundraising, facility maintenance and security. During his remaining time, Fox will take a step back from those day-to-day operations but will remain an active part of museum leadership while mentoring Burns. Fox will help the institution broaden its private sector support and in other ways to the benefit of the organization’s future. He will also work with the developer behind the nearby Museum Square development — the neighboring $300 million mixed-use project approved by Scottsdale City Council in 2019 — to “aid in the revitalization of the museum’s neighborhood in the historic arts district.” Burns and Fox previously worked together at the Museum of Northern Arizona and its Colton Research Center. The new hire announcement came shortly after the Airpark News’ sister publication, the Scottsdale Progress, published an article examining the museum’s performance over its first six years. The report found the museum has received AUGUST 2021 / SCOTTSDALE AIRPARK NEWS /
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