Longtime CEO Micah Parzen leaving Museum of Us after 16 years

Micah Parzen, who led the Museum of Us through a period of dramatic institutional change, is leaving the Balboa Park institution after 16 years.

His departure was announced Monday on the museum's website and its social media platforms. An exact date for his departure was not identified other than that he would end his tenure in August.

Asked on Tuesday what stands out as the most rewarding part of his time at the Museum of Us, Parzen said: “Being a daily witness to the transformative power of a truly values-centered organization.”

“Over the last 16 years, I had the privilege of working alongside colleagues, trustees, Indigenous partners and community members who were deeply committed to aligning our actions with our values. When people, systems and resources are all rowing in the same direction, extraordinary things become possible. Watching that alignment create meaningful and durable impact in people's lives has been the most rewarding part of my time at the Museum of Us, and something for which I will always be profoundly grateful.”

Parzen is leaving to become the executive director of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley.

Erin Spiewak, who has led the Museum of Us alongside Parzen as its executive director since 2023, will remain in her position. She joined the museum in January of 2020 as its chief financial and operations officer and previously served as the CEO of Monarch School.

Since 2010, Parzen has served as the museum's chief executive officer. In the time since, he has overseen one of the most dramatic public-facing efforts to establish anti-racist and decolonial practices for a local cultural institution, thereby reframing the museum's purpose and place in San Diego's cultural landscape.

Under the “Decolonizing Initiatives” section of its website, the museum said it recognizes “that our mission can only authentically be fulfilled through a decolonial process that centers around truthfulness, accountability and reconciliation. We call this process our decolonizing initiatives. The heart of our decolonizing initiatives work is to acknowledge and redress the ways that our museum participated in the colonial enterprise, both intentionally and unintentionally.”

Last year, it launched The Homeward Project, an initiative aimed at working with “Native American and Indigenous communities across the globe to repatriate and steward cultural materials in alignment with their wishes.” As part of this effort, the museum doubled its Cultural Resources team staff from four to eight.

Under his watch, in 2020, the museum rolled out a rebranding campaign that went well beyond changing its name from San Diego Museum of Man to the Museum of Us, a move that it says was a way to reflect "both the museum's anti-racist and decolonial journey as well as its aspiration to become a museum that is truly for all of us."

In 2015, five years after he took the helm, the museum opened the California Tower to visitors for the first time in 80 years.

"It has been the great honor of my life to work in partnership with so many others for so long to transform the Museum of Us into a place for everyone,” Parzen said. “The work of returning belongings and ancestors to their homes has been transformative for our passionate staff, our committed board and for me personally. We are deeply grateful to the many Indigenous communities who have partnered with and entrusted us to participate in this important work.”

Ileana Ovalle, chair the museum's board of trustees, said Monday in a statement: "The museum and its California Tower are beloved by San Diegans, and within its walls harbored a complicated past. Under Micah's leadership, the museum came to terms with the historical harm it caused, leaned into relational repair, and doubled down on the investments necessary to act on its commitments. This will remain the focus of our work forward."

“Micah leaves the museum a radically different institution than when he arrived. This includes a values-aligned staff, board and budget, along with deep partnerships that would have been difficult to imagine even a decade ago," said Ovalle, chief strategy & governance officer at the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego and also the first woman of color to chair the museum’s board in its 115-year history.

"The museum is extraordinarily well-positioned to implement the many community-centered initiatives we have underway," Ovalle added. "(The) trustees have full confidence in Erin's leadership as she continues to partner with the Museum's long-tenured senior leadership team, community partners and our philanthropic community."

The Museum of Us, formerly the San Diego Museum of Man, was founded in 1915 as part of the Panama-California Exposition.

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM.