CONGRATULATIONS EXTENDED TO GARY T. JOHNSON ON HIS RETIREMENT AS PRESIDENT OF THE CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
WHEREAS, Gary T. Johnson retired as the eighth President of the Chicago History Museum in April 2021; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of Gary's retirement by the Honorable Michele Smith, Alderman of the 43rd Ward; and
WHEREAS, Gary was named the eighth President of the Chicago History Museum in August 2005; his leadership has focused on community outreach and building the institution's capacity to serve its mission of sharing Chicago's stories; and
WHEREAS, After 28 years as a lawyer and partner at two global law firms, Gary left the practice of law to become President of the Chicago History Museum in 2005, where he led the reinvention of the Chicago Historical Society into today's Chicago History Museum in 2006; the reinvention included a renovation of 75% of the Museum and the installation of the highly praised Exelon Crossroads exhibit, a foundational overview of Chicago history; and
WHEREAS, Gary's vision ensured that the oldest cultural institution in the City was modern and up-to-date; he is proud that the Museum now offers virtual reality and augmented reality platforms, and was also the first museum anywhere to ask the community to assign the topic for a future exhibition, as well as host the first-ever entirely crowd-sourced exhibition, Chicago Authored; and
WHEREAS, Under Gary's leadership, the Chicago History Museum increased annual attendance by 89% and received several major awards, including the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2016, which is the top award in the United States for museums and libraries and was awarded to the Museum at a White House ceremony; and the Social Innovator Award in 2019, presented by Chicago Innovation; and
WHEREAS, Throughout Gary's tenure, he managed the successful installation of numerous widely praised exhibitions, including: OUT In Chicago, which won the Ame...
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