Former Interior Official To Lead Indian Museum
By Jacqueline Trescott and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 12, 2007; Page C01
The Smithsonian Institution yesterday named Kevin Gover, a lawyer and former Interior Department official with no museum experience, to succeed W. Richard West as director of the National Museum of the American Indian.
Gover, an Oklahoma Pawnee and former assistant secretary for Indian affairs at the Interior Department, is a former law partner of West, the museum's founding director. His office at Interior oversaw the Bureau of Indian Affairs, historically one of the most contentious agencies in the federal government.
For the past four years, Gover has been a professor at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe.
"I came to this decision rather slowly. I knew the museum was looking for a director and I was one of the people who wondered who could replace Rick. But I got more and more interested. A key factor is that it is a glorious building with wonderful exhibits and collections. The basic things you need for a good museum are already there," Gover said. [read full story]
Museum press release (pdf)
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