Search begins for new CEO at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson [The Wichita Eagle, Kan.]

Feb. 07--From now through March 15, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is taking applications for its new president and CEO.

Chris Orwoll, the former president and CEO, announced he was leaving in November. In a news release issued Tuesday, the Cosmosphere's search committee is expecting to hear from prominent aerospace, museum and other industry executives regarding the position.

An ideal job candidate must have experience in planning and strategy, operations management, financial management, development, community relations, museum operations, and leadership and staff development, the release said. Minimum qualifications include a bachelor's degree in business administration or related field (with advanced related degrees preferred), and at least 10 years of progressive executive management experience.

Telephone interviews will be conducted in April with hope that an offer will be made to a qualified candidate in May.

Search committee co-chairs are Tom Giller, KCSC Governing Board chair and community bank president of Commerce Bank, Manhattan, Kan.; and Allen Fee, president of Fee Insurance GroupHutchinson. The search committee includes Aubrey Abbott Patterson, Leann Cox, John Doswell, Alan Feldkamp, Bobby Gandu, Sarah Liebl, John Montgomery, Darla Neal and Russ Reinert. All inquiries are to be addressed to the co-chairs.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center houses the most significant collection of U.S. space artifacts outside the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

It features the largest collection of Soviet space artifacts in the Western World.

For more information about the Cosmosphere, visit the website at www.cosmo.org.

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