Executive Director
Arizona Historical Society
James Burns serves as the statewide Executive Director of the Arizona Historical Society. Most recently he held the position of Director of the University of Arizona Museum of Art and the Center for Creative Photography, and prior to that was Executive Director for the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona, where he transformed a once small-town historical museum into a nationally recognized center for Western art, history, and culture. James holds an M.A. in Public History from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University. He is a graduate of the Getty’s Museum Management Institute, and has worked in history, anthropology, and art museums since 1990 at organizations in Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, and Louisiana. James has subject matter expertise in curatorial practice, collections management, management and administration, and audience engagement. He has served on a number of state and regional museum association boards and currently serves as Chair of the Curators’ Committee of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Past Chair of the LGBTQ Alliance of AAM, Board Member-At-Large of the Western Museums Association, as a peer reviewer for the Museum Assessment Program, and as a reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums’ Accreditation Program.
Tuesday, May 21
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM