Dr. Jason Cryan Announced as ASTC Board Member 

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – October 11, 2023 – The Natural History Museum of Utah’s Executive Director, Dr. Jason Cryan, has been announced as one of the newly elected members of The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Board of Directors. Cryan is The Sarah B. George Executive Director of the Natural History Museum of Utah, the largest natural history museum in America’s intermountain west and part of the University of Utah. 

“I am honored to have been elected as a member of this distinguished board,” said Cryan. “I look forward to amplifying the natural history museum perspective in ASTC’s mission of increasing the understanding of and engagement with science and technology among all people. And I’m thrilled to join the ASTC leadership just as ASTC commits to a new initiative revolving around the roles of science centers and museums in improving planetary health.” 

Founded in 1973, ASTC is a network of more than 600 science and technology centers and museums, and allied organizations, engaging more than 110 million people annually across North America and in more than 40 countries. With its members and partners, ASTC works towards a vision of increased understanding of and engagement with science and technology among all people. The new Board members join at an important time as ASTC celebrates its 50th anniversary. 

“ASTC is honored that these distinguished science center and museum leaders from around the world will be joining our Board of Directors,” said Christofer Nelson, ASTC’s President and CEO in a press release from the association. “These individuals bring tremendous expertise and experience and will play a pivotal role in ASTC’s work across North America and globally to champion public engagement with science and promote science and technology centers and museums in their shared work to support lifelong science learning, connect science and society, engage diverse audiences, and partner to tackle global and local challenges.” 

 Cryan joined NHMU in 2020 as its fourth executive director and proudly works with the Museum’s leadership team to shape the vision for museum’s future and the strategic priorities to help it get there. In addition to this new role with ASTC, Cryan also serves on the Board of Directors for the US National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM-US). Dr. Cryan has been a museum-based scientist and administrator for more than two decades, working in collections, research, and museum leadership in New York, North Carolina, and now Utah. 

An evolutionary biologist, Cryan specializes in the biodiversity and evolution of remarkably charismatic insects (treehoppers and their relatives) that are entomologically famous for having bizarre shapes, bright colors, and interesting behaviors. Cryan’s research has taken him around the globe, studying insect biodiversity in more than twenty tropical countries.  

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About the Natural History Museum of Utah   

The Natural History Museum of Utah is one of the leading scientific research and cultural institutions in the country. Established in 1963, the museum’s 10 permanent exhibitions are anchored by its state-of-the-art collections and research facilities containing nearly 2 million objects. These collections are used in studies on geological, biological, and cultural diversity, and the history of living systems and human cultures within the Utah region. The museum hosts approximately 300,000 general visitors a year and provides one of the most spectacular private event settings in the Salt Lake City area. NHMU also broadens the reach of its mission through a variety of science-based outreach programs to communities and schools throughout Utah, reaching every school district in the state every other year.