DAAS Professor Raymond Silverman of Ann Arbor was a Quest for Excellence award recipient at the Michigan Museums Association (MMA) award dinner held during the three-day MMA Annual Conference in Harbor Springs October 16 – 18, 2011. 

The Quest for Excellence Awards recognize outstanding contributions to the museum community.  Awards include Volunteer of the Year, the Peninsulas Prize (honoring long and distinguished service by an individual to a single institution) and the Most Awesome Experience (those exhibits that inspire “aha!” moments for visitors).  Award winners were recognized by Nancy Bryk, President of the MMA Board of Directors. 

Ray has served the museum community for nearly 30 years.  As Professor of Art History at Michigan State University, Ray was the founding Director of the Museum Studies Program from 1999-2002.  Ray also founded the Museum Studies Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2002.  In his work at U-M, Ray has steered the program to become one of the finest in the nation.  The program has been cited by his peers as providing an excellent model for interdisciplinary study and it has served as a model for new museum studies curricula at universities in both the United States and Canada. 

Through his work as Director of the Museum Studies Program, his field work each summer in Ghana to develop a cultural center and his work to fully engage students with the broader university community, Ray has helped create a community where enthusiasm for museums is truly shared and where the diverse contributions of many all contribute to the development of the next generation of professionals.

Silverman also received the President’s Award, annually awarded to an individual who has made an exemplary contribution to the Michigan museum community.

Silverman received a plaque recognizing his achievement as winner of the Peninsula Award.  The next set of awards will be presented at MMA’s 2012 Annual Conference in Muskegon September 26-28. 

 

 For more information about MMA, visit www.michiganmuseums.org.