Post by University of California, Berkeley

Seasoned museum leader and advisor Micah Parzen was recently appointed as UC Berkeley’s next director of Hearst Museum of Anthropology. “As a nationally recognized leader in the field, he will be an invaluable partner in advancing the Hearst Museum’s mission as a dynamic, community-centered institution dedicated to research, learning, public engagement and relational repair,” said Vice Chancellor for Research Kathy Yelick. Leading the museum marks a homecoming for Parzen, a 1991 Berkeley anthropology graduate. “I fell head over heels in love with anthropology [at Berkeley], not just as a field of study but also as a philosophical orientation to the world,” Parzen said. “It just resonated so deeply with my own personal values.” Parzen brings decades of experience in anthropology, law and museum leadership. Most recently, he oversaw the multiyear transformation of the San Diego Museum of Us, helping reimagine one of the nation's most-visited anthropology museums around a more community-centered vision. “It allowed us to be crystal clear about who we were and what we stood for,” Parzen said. “It was part descriptive, part aspirational, always posing the question: What does it mean to be a museum that is truly for all of us?” Full story on UC Berkeley News: https://lnkd.in/gfkSycCJ #UCBerkeley #CalAlum #Anthropology