Aug

On the move at Exhibits Central, the Office of Visitor Services and the Inspector General’s Office

August 15, 2013

Coming? Going? Let your colleagues know! Submit items to torch@si.edu and put “On the Move” in the subject line. Be sure to include contact information and a picture as an attachment. We love pictures!

Office of the Inspector General

Scott Dahl

President Barak Obama has nominated Scott S. Dahl for the position of Inspector General at the Department of Labor. Dahl has held the position of Inspector General at the Smithsonian since 2012. He has also been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center since 1992. Dahl served as Deputy Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Commerce from October 2010 until January 2012 and Deputy Inspector General for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2007 until 2010. Previously, he worked at the U.S. Department of Justice for more than 15 years, including as Senior Counsel to the Inspector General, a prosecutor in the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division, and trial attorney for the Civil Fraud Section in the Civil Division.

Office of Exhibits Central

Susan Ades the new Director of the Office of Exhibits Central. She has been serving in that role on an interim basis since May 20.

Susan Ades

Ades began her Smithsonian career in 1990 as a Project Director at the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. She joined the National Zoo in 1997 as an Exhibit Developer and became the Director of Exhibits in 2004. Ades has a background in audience research. She received a master’s degree in museum education from the George Washington University in 1989 and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1983. She is also a recent graduate of the Palmer Leadership Development Program.

She succeeds Michael Mason, who served as Acting Director of OEC for a year before becoming Director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Office of Visitor Services

Samir Bitar has been named the Director of the Office of Visitor Services, effective Aug. 12. He had been the Chief of Visitor Experience at the Natural History Museum, a position he held since 2010.

Samir Bitar

Since joining the Smithsonian in 2008, Samir has created visitor services strategies for the National Museum of the American Indian in New York and the National Museum of Natural History. In New York, he implemented a bilingual, city-wide marketing campaign to increase visitation to the museum among Latino families.

Over the past three years, Samir has grown the museum’s volunteer program and launched a new visitor concierge program. He helped redesign Natural History’s public spaces, including new information desks, museum signs and retail spaces. Samir co-developed the brand strategy for the museum’s Q?RIUS education center and he oversees the marketing strategy and operations of the museum’s Butterfly Pavilion.

After serving in the United States Army, Samir earned a bachelor’s degree in modern dance and humanities at the New College of California. He danced professionally for six years before earning a master’s degree in arts management and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He co-authored a white paper on technology in nonprofit organizations and, at the Smithsonian, co-authored two visitor experience studies.