Bishop Museum's Board of Directors on Monday announced plans to start an international search for the next president and CEO to lead the state's largest museum.
The announcement comes as Dee Jay Mailer starts her final year of a three-year commitment as CEO.
She assumed the role in 2023 after the board fired three top executives — CEO Melanie Ide, General Counsel Barron Oda, and Vice President of Operations, Planning and Program Management Wesley "Kaiwi" Yoon — following a months-long probe into complaints about the work environment.
Mailer served on the Bishop Museum board from 2012 to 2016. She graduated from Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawai'i and was CEO of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate from 2004 to 2014.
"Dee Jay has made an immeasurable contribution to Bishop Museum. We are operationally more stable than we have been for many years, and under her strong guidance, the staff has done tremendous work in implementing our strategic plan," said Board Chair Ann Botticelli in a news release.
Mailer will aid the search process and transition her successor.
The museum hired the nonprofit executive search firm Morris & Berger to help with the search. The job will be posted in mid-October. Board member Patrick Kirch, a professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, is leading the search committee.
"Bishop Museum holds scientific and cultural research and collections from the mountains to the deep sea in communities all over the Pacific," Kirch said in a news release. "We are looking for a visionary executive leader who will move us even farther forward in making our knowledge available to people throughout the world. We are looking for a leader for the next decade."
The board anticipates announcing the museum's new head before Mailer steps down.
Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a descendant of King Kamehameha I. The museum is an educational center with a collection of more than 25 million objects, including cultural items, historical publications, photographs, artworks, and more.
The museum said it attracts more than 200,000 annual visitors.
