E. Gruber Named Director of the National Postal Museum

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Summary

  • Elliot Gruber begins his tenure as Director of the National Postal Museum on September 5, 2017. Gruber has more than thirty years' experience in the nonprofit sector. He was the Chief Development and External Affairs Officer at the Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA). He was responsible for the organization's philanthropic revenue, marketing, and communications. Under Gruber's leadership, the agency launched a $6 million capital campaign to renovate one of its buildings in the Washington, D.C., area and planned a $12 million campaign to provide mental health services to Holocaust survivors that will launch in 2018. JSSA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, client-focused health and social service agency that has been helping individuals and families meet emotional, social, and physical challenges for more than 120 years.
  • Before joining JSSA, Gruber was a principal at EHG Consulting, which provides strategic planning and operations and fund raising expertise to nonprofit organizations. He worked with the Houston Maritime Museum, which launched $50 million capital campaign for its new facility scheduled to open in 2020. He also conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of the organizational and fund raising structure for Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Gruber was the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Mariners' Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., from February 2013 through April 2016. There, he managed a $7 million annual budget, 550 acres of parkland, and a staff of 90. He also established the Monitor Foundation, a nonprofit organization overseeing the largest marine metals conservation lab in the world, to ensure continued conservation of the ironclad steamship the USS Monitor, which was built by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War.
  • From September 2010 until January 2013, Gruber was the Senior Vice President for Resource Development for the United Way of the National Capital Area. He was responsible for all fund raising programs, including the Greater Washington Give to the Max Day, which in its inaugural year raised more than $2 million in 24 hours. Gruber was the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Gettysburg Foundation (August 2002-September 2010) where he directed the $125 million capital campaign to build a new museum and visitor center at Gettysburg National Military Park. He oversaw all museum operations, including ticketing, reservations, visitor services, and facilities management. He has also worked in leadership capacities at the Ocean Conservancy, the Civil War Trust, and the National Parks Conservation Association. Gruber received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts., and his master's degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University in New York City.

Subject

  • Kane, Allen R
  • Emery, Marty
  • Gruber, Elliot
  • National Postal Museum (U.S.)
  • Mariners' Museum (Newport News, Va.)

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

  • Marty Emery served as Acting Director of the Postal Museum after Allen Kane's retirement in January of 2017.
  • SI Email Announcements, 7/12/2017, Elliot Gruber Named Director of the National Postal Museum

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

September 5, 2017

Topic

  • Appointments
  • Museums
  • Museum directors

Place

Washington (D.C.)

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