Vanda Vitali
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Vanda Vitali | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vitali at the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2007 | |
| Education | University of Toronto |
| Occupation | Museum executive |
Vanda Vitali is an international museum executive, who served as executive director and the Chief executive of the Canadian Museums Association from 2019 through 2021. She has been director and chief executive at the Auckland Museum in Auckland, New Zealand, from 2007 through 2010, the first and only woman ever appointed to that role.[1] She was vice president, public programs and director, content development at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, in Los Angeles, California, from 2002 to 2007.
Canadian Museum Association
Vitali studied both fine arts and physical chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, before pursuing and receiving her Ph.D. in materials science at that university in 1985. Her research involved the application of physics to archaeological objects and works of art. This was followed by postdoctoral studies in epistemology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France.
Significant positions during the 1980s and 1990s include policy adviser to the president on heritage preservation and presentation, Arab World Institute, Paris, France; and field director, Transfer of Conservation Technologies and Gallery Development, Museum of Carthage, Carthage, Tunisia and University of Toronto, Canada. Vitali was appointed advisor to the president of the Royal Ontario Museum in 1999 and held that post until her departure in 2002. She also simultaneously served as head of the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. She left Canada in 2002 to become vice president of public programs and director of content development at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. She also held the position of executive producer of special exhibitions, programs and publications.[2]
Vitali was appointed executive director and the Chief executive officer of the Canadian Museum Association in 2019. The CMA has undertaken multiple, successful initiatives under Dr. Vitali’s leadership since her arrival including the following:
- Development and execution on a new multi-year strategic plan for the CMA, which includes areas of social responsibility for the organization. The strategic plan was the result of a comprehensive consultation process with members and key stakeholders.
- Multiple museum community building initiatives, including roundtables with emerging museums professionals, research leaders, universities and government leaders across Canada.
- Strengthening professional communications and training, by expanding professional standard and contributions to The Muse, CMA annual conferences and other for a to better connect with both pan-Canadian and international experts in museums and other disciplines.
- Forging of a new unified, accountable and efficient CMA organizational structure designed to improve organizational and financial efficiency and transparency, including improved financial oversight, increased financial certainty regarding grant funding, and the adoption of new organizational technologies and work-from-home approaches through the difficult COVID-19 period.
- Incorporation of innovative government advocacy and policy development on major fronts, including the CMA’s Reconciliation Program, a new National Museums Policy Framework, and other key policy spheres in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage and other federal departments. [3]
Honours
- World Academy for the Future of Women and Sias International University - Sias Women's Leadership Award (2013)
- Chevalier Dans L'Ordre Des Arts et Lettres, France
- Commander of the Order of Merit for Culture, Tunisia
- AAM Muse 2007 Jim Blackaby Ingenuity Award, U.S.A.
- Bausch and Lomb Merit Award for Physics, U.S.A.
