WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience has selected Dr. Zack Klim as its director. He joins the Museum from his current role as Executive Director of Global Affairs and Experiential Learning at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University (NYU).
His new appointment will begin on January 2, 2023.
Klim has been in leadership at NYU’s Global Programs division since 2008. Throughout his tenure at NYU, he interfaced with colleagues around the world to develop learning and research opportunities, fundraise, and foster understanding across cultural and socioeconomic divides. In his role as Executive Director, he successfully procured funding to ensure international learning opportunities would be accessible to all.
His collaboration with faculty in the Visual Arts Administration program were vital to the launch of an international leadership Program in Visual Arts Management – a post-professional certificate program – in partnership with University of Deusto and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
“Zack’s diverse track record in developing new programs, managing international teams, and as an educator in the U.S. and globally brought him to our attention early in the search process. His vision for the museum builds on his experience in community engagement, education, and research, all of which he sees as essential museum programs,” said MPCE president Patricia A. Wand.
In 2020, he earned his doctorate in Sociology of Education at NYU, where he studied organizational theory and processes that foster and diminish social inequality. His research examines how variation in institutional conditions influences the spread of ideas, social movements, and educational stratification.
Prior to NYU, he was a public school teacher in New York City and a human rights educator in Burma/Myanmar, where he co-curated exhibitions on photojournalism and the political power of visual art for the U.S. Embassy’s American Center in Yangon. His first international experience was as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Bangladesh where he trained teachers and participated in community development projects.
“My experience in the Peace Corps had a profound effect on me. Without question it’s what influenced my ongoing passion for international education. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, a cultural institution that I believe will help inform and introduce a new generation of folks to the significant history, diplomacy, and community that is the Peace Corps experience,” said Dr. Klim.
“We are delighted to get to work with someone as qualified as Zack and look forward to his leadership and collaboration in taking the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience to the next level,” said Nicola Dino (Ecuador 1994-97), museum president 2005-18 and member of the search committee.
About The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience
The Museum of the Peace Corps was founded in 2000 by a visionary group of returned Peace Corps volunteers in Portland, Oregon. Over the past twenty years, the Museum has procured an important collection of material culture, preserved stories of service, and curated exhibitions around the nation. The Museum will soon have a permanent exhibit space in Washington, D.C. and will continue to develop online exhibits accessible to visitors from around the world.
