Directors of museums in the United States

Peter Earnest (January 1, 1934 – February 13, 2022) was an American intelligence officer. He was the first director of the International Spy Museum.

Craig Call Black (1932–1998) was an American paleontologist noted for his studies of the vertebrate mammals of the Ice Age. He served as the director of the Museum of Texas Tech University 1972-1975, Carnegie Museum of Natural History 1975-1982 and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 1982-1994. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to serve on the National Museum Services Board. In 1985, Reagan nominated him to serve on the National Science Board for a period of five years succeeding David V. Ragone. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed him to serve on the Environment for the Americas Board.

Anne Hawley (born November 3, 1943) was the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston from 1989 until 2015. Founded in 1903 and one of Boston's most important cultural institutions, the museum is a highly unique installation of Gardner’s private collection, considered to be a work of art in totality. Hawley stepped down from the position at the end of 2015 with plans to continue working with artists and the artistic community. She has been named a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics, beginning in spring 2016.

Harry Joseph Middleton Jr. (October 24, 1921 – January 20, 2017) was an American journalist, author, and library director who served as Lyndon B. Johnson's Presidential speech writer and staff assistant from 1967 to 1969. Middleton was also director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum from 1971 until 2002, and led the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation from 1993 until 2004.

John Main Olguin (February 18, 1921 – January 1, 2011) was an American aquarium official who served as the museum director of the Cabrillo Marine Museum, which has since been renamed the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, from 1949 until 1987, when he became director emeritus. Olguin has been called the "father of recreational whale watching", as he was the founder of the Cabrillo Whalewatch program and a founding member of the American Cetacean Society.An authorized biography, entitled "An Ocean of Inspiration - The John Olguin Story" detailing John's life is being released October 16, 2011 at the Autumn Sea Fair at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. The book is co-authored by Dr. Stefan Harzen and Barbara J Brunnick, Ph.D. of the Taras Oceanographic Foundation and Mike Schaadt, the current Director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
In 2012, a new campus of San Pedro High School, the John M. and Muriel Olguin Campus, was opened and named after Olguin and his wife.

George Heard Hamilton (1910 – March 29, 2004) was an American art historian, educator, and curator. Hamilton taught art history at Yale University and Williams College, and was the acting director of the Yale University Art Gallery and the Clark Art Institute.

Hildegard Anna Augusta Elisabeth Freiin[1] Rebay von Ehrenwiesen, known as Baroness Hilla von Rebay or simply Hilla Rebay (31 May 1890 – 27 September 1967), was an abstract artist in the early 20th century and co-founder and first director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. She was a key figure in advising Solomon R. Guggenheim to collect abstract art, a collection that would later form the basis of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum collection. She was also influential in selecting Frank Lloyd Wright to design the current Guggenheim museum, which is now known as a modernist icon in New York City.

Wilmer Webster Tanner ((1909-12-17)December 17, 1909 – (2011-10-28)October 28, 2011) was an American zoologist, professor and curator. He was associated with Brigham Young University (BYU), in Provo, Utah for much of his life and published extensively on the snakes and salamanders of the Great Basin.