MUSEUM DIRECTOR ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION TO ASSUME MILWAUKEE MUSEUM POST

After five years of helping the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History move forward into the first part of the 21st century – a time during which the museum expanded its permanent galleries, established a cycle of major traveling exhibits and launched new educational programs – director Ellen Censky is leaving to accept another museum position out of state that will allow her to be closer to her elderly mother. Censky’s last day as director of the Sam Noble Museum will be Aug. 31. She will then move on to her new position as senior vice president of museum programs at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

“The entire OU family will greatly miss Ellen Censky,” said OU President David L. Boren. “She has worked effectively to bring the outstanding collection of the museum to the broadest possible audience during her tenure as director.”

Since becoming director in 2003, Censky has overseen the accomplishment of a number of noteworthy endeavors, including:

• completion of the launch of two permanent galleries: the Paleozoic Gallery, tracing 4.5 billion years of Earth’s history from the point when it was first formed through the Permian extinction about 250 million years ago, which opened May 31, and the Noble Corporation and Noble Energy Orientation Gallery, expected to open in March 2009, which will introduce visitors to the museum by focusing on what goes on behind the scenes, connecting research and collections to the exhibits on display

• establishment of a cycle of major traveling exhibits to attract new and repeat visitors – including the popular “A T-rex named Sue,” “Hunters of the Sky” and “SuperCroc” – which have resulted in a steady increase in attendance

• the launching of ExplorOlogy, a multifaceted educational program supported by the Whitten-Newman Foundation that brings children and teachers together with scientists during the summer months in “doing science”; the program also has an outreach component that sends education staff to schools to help teachers implement science curriculum

• establishment of a Genomic Resource Collection for genetic research, which has opened the door for broadened research in the museum

• establishment of a conservator position, and the hiring of its first conservator, to ensure that the museum provides the best protection for its valuable collections (because of this and the exceptional care the museum has established for its collections, the museum received the prestigious American Institute of Conservation’s Award for Care and Conservation of Collections, one of very few U.S. institutions to receive the award).

Prior to coming to OU, Censky – an expert on amphibians and reptiles – served as an adjunct associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut and as director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. She also has worked at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, serving as chairman of the division of life sciences and head of the amphibians and reptiles section.

She is known in scientific communities across the country as one of the founders of “Bioblitz,” an annual 24-hour biological search that involves scientists and the public who work together to find and identify all living things in a designated community park or natural area to help educate the public about biodiversity and the life sciences.

The museum "family" will miss Censky's leadership and vision. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.