SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The DoSeum’s Board of Trustees has appointed Daniel Menelly as the institution’s new CEO.

Menelly is an experienced science educator and non-profit management expert with a solid background in STEM education in both formal and informal learning environments. He comes to The DoSeum from the Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC), where he served as President and Chief Science Officer. The RMSC, located in Rochester, New York, engages 365,000 stakeholders in STEM experiences, exhibitions and programs annually.

As president of the Rochester Museum & Science Center, Menelly directed and oversaw all program and exhibition activities at the 105-year-old public science institution. Prior to that, he was Vice President, STEM, at the Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, New Jersey, where he directed STEM programming at an institution dedicated to public science education with both on-site and online activities. Menelly, who is passionate about making STEM education accessible to all, has made a specialized career in adapting tools and learning models through a variety of settings, including schools, museums, and blended/cyber-enabled learning environments. His extensive experience in the teaching field, including rural, urban and suburban school settings, as well as public, independent, and international school communities, combined with years of experience in the management and administration of non-profit entities make him an ideal candidate to lead The DoSeum.

"Over the past three years, Dan's work as Chief Science Officer has led the program areas of the Rochester Museum & Science Center to a new level of excellence; incorporating essential STEM perspectives on behalf of the community we serve,” comments CEO Kate Bennett. “Recently, as President and Chief Science Officer, he has taken on more of the day to day leadership, growing the capabilities of our teams, while enthusiastically linking the Rochester community to the STEM ecosystem."

A search committee was appointed by The DoSeum’s Board of Trustees, which hired search firm Russell Reynolds. After an extensive national search, Menelly stood out from a pool of highly accomplished candidates. “The DoSeum is very excited to welcome Dan, knowing that he brings exceptional leadership skills to San Antonio and will lead this incredible place which promotes joyful learning for all kids in our community. While our search took some unexpected time, Dan is definitely worth the wait,” said Suzanne Goudge, President of The Doseum’s Board of Trustees. “Dan will be such an asset to our local community as well as the State of Texas.”

Menelly is trained in research and STEM policy through the National Science Foundation R.E.T and Einstein Fellowship programs, respectively. He was education advisor for the Science House Foundation as well as the producer and host of their Videoscience app, a free online resource with experiments and lessons for emerging STEM educators. He has served as a science media advisor for a variety of videographic tutorial and science commentary productions. Menelly has received awards for science teaching and mentoring and holds U.S. patent awards for teaching tools he developed during his 20 years as a science educator.

"I discovered The DoSeum during my policy training as an Einstein Fellow at the National Science Foundation. During my fellowship, I became very interested in the potential to combine and merge models of museum and classroom learning, to inspire and to build on student interest in science, technology, engineering and math, and to keep these learners engaged into their futures. Museums have a special role in building excitement and curiosity, and these are important to learning in all contexts, particularly as students form their identities and discover themselves as learners and doers,” said Menelly. “I have long admired The DoSeum's model conceptually and I consider San Antonio a very exciting setting for informal ("out-of-the-classroom") learning in all its forms.”

Menelly will officially join The DoSeum staff beginning February 1, 2018. Julie Huls, interim CEO as of September 2016, will remain on board through January 31, 2018. “We are so grateful to Julie for leading The DoSeum while we conducted the search. Julie enabled us to take our time with our search and we consider ourselves extremely lucky to have had such a capable leader guide us during this interim period. I enjoy telling everyone we did not miss a beat under her guidance. We were lucky to have Julie!” remarked Goudge.

Menelly is thrilled to make the Alamo City his new home "San Antonio's rich cultural heritage is well-suited to "place-based" learning, which is a specialty of institutions like The DoSeum.” He said, "I am particularly excited to partner with others in San Antonio's learning ecosystem, including schools, clubs, foundations and universities that are interested in STEM engagement and in co-developing learning experiences that build curiosity in young learners and, over time, confidence in their ability to master new challenges and understand ideas at a deeper and more personal level. That's the true potential of projects and programs developed in partnership with institutions like The DoSeum.”