When looking back on his long and successful career, Dr. Glenn Willumson explains, “There is no brief overview.”
Willumson, beloved director of the museum studies program at the University of Florida, retired this year after years of working in museums and schools in every corner of the country. Willumson, who started as a high school English teacher in California, never thought his career would end as the director of a university level program in Gainesville. The highlight of every part of his career has been, without a doubt, working with students he said.
Willumson said his interest is in the way museums function within our society. In the future, he sees the Museum Studies program at the University of Florida going any number of ways.
“It is entirely up to the new director what happens next,” explains Willumson. “The program could definitely grow, but it really depends on university support.”
No longer leading the Museum Studies program, Willumson has more time to focus on some other projects like, an exhibition for the Harn scheduled for 2018 and a research project on 1970s collectable art. He explains that he is looking forward to having more time for these projects, but less excited to not be back teaching in the fall.
“Again, I really enjoy teaching and being with students, and I will miss that,” Willumson said.
Willumson will be missed on campus, but his legacy will continue through a new scholarship that he has generously left to the school, and through the students he taught and encouraged to, “be proactive and go after what they really want.”
