President (Volunteer), Lady Denman Heritage Complex

 

Dr Sant is a retired academic who is now President of a multifaceted volunteer operated museum, gallery and heritage centre.   In a former life he worked at the University of New South Wales in the School of Geography before becoming Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science.   As an academic he had a variety of roles (teacher, researcher, administrator) and published widely in geography and environmental science.

 

Spending several years as President and Treasurer of LDHC he has quickly come to understand the complexity of even small-to-medium size regional museums.

As importantly, he has also witnessed the energy, skills and productivity of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers, especially when receiving sympathetic and effective professional support and advice.

 

At UNSW he was heavily involved in academic management, including reviews of programs and departments, quality assessment programs, budgeting, and public programs.   Many of the challenges experienced there are similar to those in museums – not least the problems of adequate funding, relationships with the community and government (especially local government in our case), people management (including recruitment of volunteers), and attracting visitors.

 

Morgan joined the Committee in 2005.

 

Morgan’s message to new Standards Participants:

Hello and welcome to the program.   I look forward to meeting some of you later this year.   My experience in previous years has been very positive.  We visited some highly dedicated people who made us feel that we had been helpful to them in their work to develop and improve their museums.   My own museum probably faces many of the issues that confront you and I hope we can benefit from each other’s experience and enjoy each other’s successes.