Sandoz Center director named NMA president

 Barb Vondras from the Dawson County Museum in Lexington will be vice president.

Polak said that having both the president and the vice president in western Nebraska will bring great diversity to the organization and highlight the quality of western Nebraska museums.

Duties of the president include maintaining all official records and correspondence, working with the vice president in planning the annual meeting for the next year, helping to plan and coordinate educational opportunities for museum staff in Nebraska.

The 2005 Nebraska Museums Association annual meeting will be in conjunction with a 10-state regional museums association meeting to be in Omaha.

“I am very excited to show our colleagues in our neighboring states the wonderful things that Nebraska museums are doing. This will also be a great opportunity to make connections and get great ideas for our facilities,” Polak said.

Polak hopes to take Chadron State College’s applied history students to the meeting to expand their knowledge and experience in museums. Chadron State College offers the only undergraduate museum program in Nebraska.

“It is a great honor to be selected by my peers to lead the organization. I am very excited about this upcoming year,” said Polak, who served as conference host for the meeting.

Polak has been a member of the Nebraska Museums Association for four years. In addition to being director of the Sandoz Center, she is an instructor in the Applied History Department at Chadron State College.