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Obama Foundation Names Presidential Center Museum Director

The Obama Foundation said Wednesday that African-American history scholar Louise Bernard has been named director of the museum at the Obama Presidential Center.
The Obama Foundation
/ Source: The Associated Press

CHICAGO — The former New York Public Library director of exhibitions will be in charge of Barack Obama's presidential center museum.

The Obama Foundation has announced that African-American history scholar Louise Bernard has been named director of the museum at the Obama Presidential Center. She will lead the design, development and operations of the museum to be built as part of the center on Chicago's South Side.

Louise Bernard
Louise BernardThe Obama Foundation

Bernard said in a statement that she looks forward to bringing Obama's story to the world and "highlighting the crucial role of civic engagement."

“I’m honored to work alongside such a talented team at the Obama Foundation, and to have the opportunity to help guide and shape a museum that is a truly innovative social and cultural institution,” Bernard said in the statement.

“I look forward in bringing President and Mrs. Obama’s remarkable story to the broadest possible audience, and to highlighting the crucial role of civic engagement in a way that is meaningful and inspiring to local South Side residents, and to people across the country and around the world.”

She also has worked with the National Museum of African American History and Culture and Smithsonian Institution. She received a Ph.D. from Yale University and also studied at Indiana University-Bloomington and the University of Manchester.

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