AAM PRESIDENT FORD BELL TO DELIVER KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT MAA CONFERENCE

Prominent educator, scientist, civic leader, and, as of June 2007, American Association of Museums President and CEO Ford Watson Bell will present the 2008 MAA Annual Meeting keynote address. 

Bell was previously President and CEO of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, a trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and, most recently, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Oncology at the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine. In 2006 Bell was a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Mr. Bell has been affiliated with a wide range of organizations, including Project EarthSense, The Humane Society, Community Health Charities Minnesota, and the JASON Advisory Committee. He is also a long-time trustee of Connecticut College.

Mr. Bell’s passionate interest in museums began early.  Bell’s grandfather, James Ford Bell, was instrumental in developing the Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota (in 1966 renamed the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History in his honor).  Bell's association with the museum fostered a lifelong love of nature and science--and museums in general.