Director the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas named Fulbright Specialist

Las Vegas, NV – The Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas Hollis J. Gillespie has been awarded a Fulbright Specialist Program Award. She was selected for her academic and professional achievements, as well as leadership in her field.

As one of over 400 U.S. citizens selected, Ms. Gillespie, with input from the Montenegro Ministry of Culture and Media, will develop a strategy for building the capacity Montenegrin museums to become modern institutions that are attractive, approachable, and self-sustainable. She will also exchange knowledge and practices for museum management with staff and professionals through training and consultations to engage those people and museums to develop and upgrade their own capacities. Lastly, Ms. Gillespie will present to the Ministry and museum leadership on the potential strategies to adopt new, modern, and innovative practices.  

Hollis J. Gillespie serves as the museum director of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. She has led public museums in Florida, California, New Mexico, and Alaska. She founded a successful consulting practice focused on the management and strategic planning of museums and other cultural institutions before being offered the role in Nevada.  She holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a graduate degree in Geography/Biogeography from UCLA.  

“I could not be more excited to have been chosen to work alongside my museum counterparts in Montenegro,” said Ms. Hollis J. Gillespie. “I hope to have a reciprocal learning experience, bringing my experience from a newer museum established in 1982 and absorb information from my colleagues in other cultural institutions, one of which was founded in 1896,” she added.

Release from the United States Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs