Linda Malkin steps down at Discovery Museum

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 14:27

Discovery Museum Executive Director Linda Malkin is leaving her position to pursue an advanced degree in education. Jeffrey Bishop, a museum trustee since 2003, will assume the role of acting executive director.

Malkin has agreed to remain with the museum on a part-time basis for up to five months to ease the transition period. The museum will conduct a nationwide search for a new executive director.

Malkin began her career at the Discovery Museum in 1991 as its lead science instructor. “No one would have predicted, least of all me, that more than 18 years later I would still be with the organization and have the privilege of holding the top staff job,” she said.

She said the museum has given her the opportunity to grow personally and professionally; and she has developed “a love for the museum, its educational mission and the people it serves.”

However, she now wants to focus on the disparity between urban and suburban public school education in Connecticut. “I feel that I am best suited to make a positive impact on this problem from inside the educational system,” she said.

Daniel J. Donovan, Discovery Museum board chairman, said Malkin will be missed.

“Her dedication, resourcefulness and true belief in the mission of the Discovery Museum has inspired many of us,” Donovan said. “Under Linda’s leadership, the museum has achieved a great deal of momentum, and she is leaving the museum in good shape.”

Recently, the museum’s lunar impact observation event on Oct. 9 had the second biggest audience in the country, as reported to NASA. That’s when the public was invited to select venues to watch a rocket purposely crash into the Moon to test for evidence of water.

Bishop has worked at the Bridgeport Economic Resource Center, Homa Pump Technology and GFE Inc.