The Concord Museum Board of Governors has named Thomas J. Putnam the Museum’s new Edward W. Kane Executive Director. Putnam will begin his position on June 4, 2018, which follows Margaret R. Burke’s recent retirement after seven years of leadership.
“Tom is an accomplished museum leader, educator, and visionary and we are very excited to welcome him as the new director of this treasured institution,” stated Ralph Earle, Vice President of the Board of Governors and chair of the search committee, who conducted a nationwide search directed by Phillips Oppenheim.
Putnam is currently serving as the Director of Education and Public Programs at the National Archives and Records Administration. In 2017, he served as the Director of Presidential Libraries and managed the nation’s modern presidential library system including the 14 federally-managed libraries from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama. Prior to this role, Putnam spent over 15 years at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, ultimately rising to Director, a position in which he served for eight years. During his tenure, the Library launched the nation’s first digital presidential archive and the Kennedy Library Forums were recognized as among the finest speaker series in Boston. He also managed the design and construction of a $30 million building addition project and directed the $2.8 million redesign of the Library’s permanent galleries. Under his watch, the Library’s retained earnings grew from $4 million to $11 million.
“I am thrilled and honored to join the extraordinary staff at the Concord Museum at this transformational moment in the museum’s history,” said Tom Putnam. “I am excited to develop creative avenues to consider how the lessons of Concord’s history can illuminate our times.”
Putnam holds an undergraduate degree in Government and Education from Bowdoin College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a Master’s in Public Administration from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and served as a Fulbright Research Fellow in Senegal, West Africa. Putnam was also a Thomas J. Watson Fellow in Quebec, Canada and a Harry S. Truman Scholar.
Earlier in his career Putnam worked as a high school history teacher in Maine and from 1992 to 1999 served as the Northfield Mount Hermon Upward Bound Director – assisting low-income high school students from Hartford, Springfield, and Holyoke to be the first in their families to attend college.
“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Tom Putnam’s caliber lead the Concord Museum during this transformative time with the opening of the Education Center and the upcoming Museum gallery renovation. He has strong experience as a leader, scholar, and a commitment to the community and the underserved,” explained Churchill Franklin, President of the Museum’s Board of Governors.
