| |
William Thorsell to Retire as Head of ROM
By STAN PARCHIN
September 24, 2009
|
| William Thorsell. Photography courtesy of Royal Ontario Museum. |
William Thorsell will retire after 10 years as Director and Chief Executive Officer of the
Royal Ontario Museum in August 2010. The ROM's Board of Trustees will use an executive search firm to help it find a suitable successor in the months ahead.
Prior to his position at the museum, Thorsell worked at Princeton University, the University of Alberta and the World Expositions in Montreal (1967) and Osaka, Japan (1970). He served as an editorialist and reviewer for
The Globe and Mail and
Edmonton Journal for 14 years before he assumed the post of Editor-in-Chief at the
G&M from 1989 to 1999.
Thorsell led Renaissance ROM, the museum's $285 million rebuilding and expansion project, from its inception in 2001, during which time the campus' historic structures were renovated and the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal was erected. Twenty new permanent galleries and a Learning Centre were created.
A number of astonishing exhibitions (some controversial) appeared at the Royal Ontario Museum during Thorsell's tenure as Director, including:
The James Ossuary: James, Son of Joseph, Brother of Jesus (2002-03);
Art Deco 1910-1939 (2003-04);
Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from The British Museum (2004);
Pearls: A Natural History (2004-05);
Ancient Peru Unearthed: Golden Treasures of a Lost Civilization (2007);
Mysteries of Ancient Ukraine: The Remarkable Trypilian Culture (5400-2700 B.C.) (2008-09); and
Dead Sea Scrolls: Words that Changed the World (2009-09).