Sean Decatur, president of the American Museum of Natural History gave a rousing talk titled “Past is More than Prologue” as the spring 2024 SUNY New Paltz Distinguished Speaker on April 16.
More than 300 attendees, including at least 100 New Paltz alumni, gathered in person to listen to Decatur’s lecture on how the Museum’s exhibitions provide context for current issues. The talk was co-sponsored by the School of Science & Engineering’s Harrington STEM Lectures series. Use this link to watch the full video recording.
The spring 2024 Distinguished Speaker Series was made possible by the SUNY New Paltz Foundation, Inc. and the School of Science & Engineering, and also received generous support from Dr. Scott A. Siegel ’78 and Sandra (Rosovsky) Siegel, other donors, and by the following major sponsors to date: Campus Auxiliary Services, M&T Bank, Sodexo, Ulster Savings Bank, SUNY Ulster (and the SUNY Ulster Foundation), Woodland Pond at New Paltz, Central Hudson, Heritage Financial Credit Union, NBT Bank, Novella’s, Stewart’s Shops and Mohonk Preserve (as a marketing partner).
As president of the New York City-based museum, Decatur oversees a collection of nearly 34 million objects and specimen that attract 4.5 million visitors each year and produce research from more than 200 esteemed scientists and scholars.
Since stepping into his role in 2022, Decatur has focused on developing modern, data-informed practices from procurement, to curation, to exhibition.
“We need to build a truly inclusive scientific enterprise,” he said. “We need to create pathways to address our most pressing challenges today while honoring our past.”
Sometimes this effort requires a critical, reflective approach, as in the case of how the Museum is handling and preserving remains of human beings.
“We have begun the work of understanding the origins of these various individuals, taking steps to ensure that these remains are treated with the respect they deserve,” he said. “Museums have a role in establishing inclusive approaches to the way they present culture.”
Decatur is also on a mission to encourage more inclusive patronage to the American Museum of Natural History and create pathways for its youngest visitors to become research scientists themselves.
“We must recognize that it’s not just about engagement when it comes to expanding opportunities in science research, but it’s about immersion,” he said.
For Decatur, the most critical move for the Museum in becoming a more inclusive, groundbreaking space is establishing an online repository for its millions of objects and specimens. This way, people can access the museum from across the globe and scientists can study its collection more in-depth.
“Ideally, we want to have something that we can share globally and have it in a true, searchable resource,” he said. “Additionally, there may be moments where the digital image of an object may provide good information to get started on a research problem.”
About the Distinguished Speaker Series
The SUNY New Paltz Distinguished Speaker Series connects the University’s alumni, community members, faculty, staff, students and their families with well-known authors, policy makers, scientists, media experts, business leaders and other luminaries.
About the Harrington STEM Lecture Series
The School of Science and Engineering hosts this series of lectures on major topics of current scientific interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). These lectures, each designed for a general scientific audience, are given by recognized scholars from around the country. The public is cordially invited to these lectures at no charge.
John Harrington was the founding dean of the SUNY New Paltz School of Science & Engineering. This lecture series honors his years of dedication to science, education and collaboration across the STEM disciplines.
Click here to learn more about the Harrington STEM Lecture Series.
