Sal Badali, Chair of the ROM Board of Trustees, announced today that William Thorsell, ROM Director & CEO, will retire on the expiry of his contract in August 2010. Mr. Thorsell has been Director & CEO of the ROM since August 2000.
“William’s decision to retire comes as a shock given the enormous contribution he makes to the ROM, the city and our province,” says Sal Badali. “A true visionary, he works tirelessly to make the Museum’s collections, research and educational offerings more accessible to the public. Very few individuals will be able to look back on their accomplishments with such satisfaction, and see a fundamental and far-reaching transformation that has brought so much acclaim to a world-renowned institution. We will greatly miss William’s intellect, passion, keen sense of direction and attention to detail when he leaves next year.”
“William has had a pivotal role in escalating the involvement of individuals, corporations and government in terms of their financial support of the Museum,” says Bob Farquharson, Chair of the ROM Board of Governors. “It was during his tenure that the ROM Foundation became the ROM Board of Governors and this reflected his appreciation of the vital contribution of the Governors to the life of the ROM today. William has much to be proud of, including his leadership of Renaissance ROM which has resulted in such an extraordinarily positive impact on the Museum and the communities it serves.”
“I believe there is a season to things,” said Mr. Thorsell. “The ROM is on a vigorous course, with enormous potential growing out of our Renaissance ROM project over the past decade. The Museum will benefit from new skills and passions in its leadership as the agenda evolves. I have enjoyed the luxury of a wonderful assignment supported by generous Boards, remarkable donors, talented staff, volunteers and governments. I have made valued friends, and learned much. In deciding to move on next summer after ten years, I believe I am properly setting the stage for the Museum’s continuing vitality and success. Meanwhile, we have much to do in the coming months.”
Mr. Thorsell joined the ROM after a career in journalism and academia. He served as Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail from 1989 to 1999, after 14 years as an editorialist and reviewer for The Globe and Mail and Edmonton Journal. Previously, he worked at Princeton University, University of Alberta, and at the World Expositions in Montreal (1967) and Osaka, Japan (1970). He holds an Honourary Doctorate in Law from the University of Alberta, and is a Member of the Order of Ontario.
Mr. Thorsell led the Renaissance ROM project from its inception in 2001. Over the past nine years, the ROM undertook one of the largest museum rebuilding projects in the world, renovating its heritage buildings, creating the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal designed by Daniel Libeskind on Bloor Street, and creating more than 20 new galleries to re-house major collections and to liberate many others long stranded in the vaults.
The Museum also invested in a new Learning Centre, off-site storage facilities, and upgraded its collections rooms in its downtown site.
The Renaissance ROM capital campaign raised more than $285-million to support the project, of which $213-million came from the private sector. The ROM remained open to the public throughout this period, staging important exhibitions ranging from Art Deco to Egypt, Darwin to Diamonds, Spring Hurlbut to Hiroshi Sugimoto. The Museum expanded its Institute for Contemporary Culture to provide contemporary references for its historical collections.
Since completion of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal in 2007, the ROM has focused on the creation of major original exhibitions with international partners. These include a unique exhibition on the Trypilian culture from Ukraine, contemporary art from Shanghai to the Dead Sea Scrolls from Israel. The ROM is also developing partnerships with other leading museums in China and the Middle East.
The ROM’s collections have grown significantly through major donations and purchases since 2000, exceeding $100-million in value today. ROM curators maintain important programs of research in natural history, art and archeology, and teach into the University of Toronto. In addition, the ROM offers one of the largest non-school education programs in Canada.
This year, the ROM created a new department of Programming and Education to emphasize its role in engaging the public on issues of environmental and social change. Attendance reached a record of one million visitors last year, with record revenues and membership levels. The museum expects to improve on those results again this year, based on the success of its Dead Sea Scrolls exhibits, the new Schad Gallery of Biodiversity (Life in Crisis), the new Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures, and expanded public programming.
The ROM Board of Trustees will engage an executive search firm to assist with the hiring of a new Director & CEO in the coming months.