IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Melissa A. Russo has been named director of the San Bernardino County Museum.
Russo, who will take over as head of the struggling facility Oct. 19, is the museum’s first female director, according to a report in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
Russo, who is being asked to reverse years of declining revenue and attendance, has nearly 25 years experience as a museum executive.
She spent the past six years as director of institutional advancement at the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, and before that she did a 10-year stint as executive director of the Western Museums Association, the report stated.
Budget cuts and disagreements over what direction the museum should take have led to declining attendance and revenues over the years. Robert McKernan, the museum’s longtime director, resigned in March, shortly after Michele Nielsen, the museum’s senior curator of history, stepped down.
The San Bernardino County Museum includes the main facility in Redlands, the Victor Valley Museum in Apple Valley and several historic sites throughout the county, according to the report.
