Dr. Kirsten Ellenbogen

A defining hallmark of Kirsten’s tenure as President & CEO of Great Lakes Science Center is her commitment to building strong community partnerships. Her energetic leadership over the last 30 years on field-advancing initiatives includes the Museum Learning Collaborative, the Center for Informal Learning and Schools, the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, and serving as co-principal investigator of the Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education. She was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences’ committee that produced the report Learning Science in Informal Environments and chaired the planning committee of the Convocation on the Status of Informal Science Education. Kirsten co-chaired the National Academies Committee on Advancing Science Communication and currently serves on the Board on Science Education. 

Her research includes measuring the community impact of science centers, and studies at the intersection of rhetoric, science communication, and informal science education. A widely-published science museum veteran, Kirsten’s career began in 1987 at the Michigan Science Center. She has worked at the Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, and the Science Museum of Minnesota, among others, and has consulted for more than thirty as an evaluator and researcher at the Institute for Learning Innovation and King’s College London. She is Board Chair of the Cleveland Water Alliance and Secretary of the board of the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation. She also serves on the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, on the Committee of Visitors for the Washkewicz College of Engineering, and on the Committee on the Practice and Science of Civic Science of the Rita Allen Foundation. She received her Ph.D. in Science Education from Vanderbilt University and her B.A. from the University of Chicago.

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