As Ellen Rosenthal rides the commuter train to class in Stockholm, Sweden, she debates whether she should get off at her stop to get to class. The Nordic Museum, Skansen, and Moderna Museet are beckoning just down the track. She is supposed to be learning about art during her gap year, but it seems to make more sense to ride a few more stops and actually聽go聽to the art.
rides on. It鈥檚 the early 1970s, and the Swedes are on to something with the immersive, interactive experience they have implemented in many museums. She recalls how empty the museums always felt in the United States. 鈥淎t the time, the approach to museums was if you had to ask, you shouldn鈥檛 be there,鈥� Rosenthal remembers. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why many didn鈥檛 visit them.鈥�
Her museum-hopping experience during her gap year helped her realize how she could make a difference: 鈥渢ransform museums.鈥�
That鈥檚 what drew her to Carnegie Mellon after her undergraduate days. She earned a Master鈥檚 in in 1984鈥攁 degree that she says taught her how to work both for and聽with聽the community.
Today, Rosenthal applies her skills and her passion at , an outdoor living-history museum based in Fishers, Ind., which recreates life in the state during the 19th century. Under her direction, as president and CEO since 2005, the museum has become as hands-on as possible and the park鈥檚 attendance has increased a remarkable 270%,聽welcoming some 340,000 visitors last year alone.
For her achievements, she was awarded a by the Indiana Commission for Women, an honor given to those who have broken down barriers and made Indiana a better place to work, live, and raise a family.
鈥�Elizabeth Shestak (DC鈥�03)
