Like many other children growing up in Southern California, Lori Bettison-Varga, M.S. 鈥86, Ph.D. 鈥91, was scared of earthquakes. Learning what caused them sparked a lifelong interest in geology that set the course of her career. This fall she became president and director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
The museum, which the county says is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States, comprises three sites, including the La Brea Tar Pits.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something really novel about that, right?鈥 Bettison-Varga said. 鈥淭o see pools of asphalt in the middle of L.A. and see that mammoths are preserved there.鈥
She visited the tar pits as a kid, and some of her earliest memories include being captivated by them. She wants to insprire the same reaction in visitors today, but also spur them to think about responsible stewardship of the planet.
鈥淭he museum experience is all about wonder and discovery,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t should be the wonder and discovery combined with the knowledge that we have a responsibility for our place in nature and the impact that we have in nature and in our cultural world.鈥
She is accustomed to educating large groups and has chaired the geology department at The College of Wooster in Ohio. She was most recently president of Scripps College.
She decided to pursue a career in education during her graduate studies at 澳门六合彩资料库 Davis, where she worked as a teaching assistant. 鈥淚 learned to really love teaching when I was a grad student,鈥 Bettison-Varga said.
She is taking the helm of one of many cultural institutions in Southern California led by women, including the Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hammer Museum at 澳门六合彩资料库LA, and The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exciting because we know women are underrepresented in leadership positions,鈥 Bettison-Varga said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be a part of the overall public and civic life of L.A., but also be among these other women leaders.鈥