New Marshals Museum president comes to town

The U.S. Marshals Museum hired a new president and CEO who will handle putting together the last pieces of the project before it opens. 

Ben Johnson will begin his job as the CEO and president of the museum Monday. He is moving from Davenport, Iowa where he was a vice president at the Putnam Museum and Science Center. 

Johnson said he is excited to tackle the unique task of helping to open a museum. 

“I think it was too cool to pass up," Johnson said. 

Johnson got his first taste of working in a museum as an intern at an aerospace museum while he was completing his undergraduate degree at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He pursued his graduate degree at the University of Nebraska. 

“I was hooked from the very beginning," Johnson said. 

Since his undergraduate days, Johnson has worked in large museums for the last 20 years, which is exactly what the Marshals Museum needs, said Doug Babb, the chairperson of the museum. On top of that experience, Johnson has also worked as the executive director of The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York. 

Babb was involved with hiring Johnson and created a search committee designated for the effort. 

Babb also hired Lindaur, an organization that searches for executives in the nonprofit world. The Lindaur staff brought the search committee eight candidates for the position. 

The search committee interviewed the candidates and narrowed the decision to three. But Babb said that Johnson was a stand-out among the other two candidates. The team then brought Johnson to Fort Smith to speak with the community. It was after that that the committee along with Babb decided that Johnson was a good fit for the job and hired him. 

“I think we're fortunate because we’ve gotten exactly the right person in the right position at the right time," Babb said. 

Johnson spoke about his hopes for the museum. 

“We will see here over the next year and definitely down the road that this is going to be a jewel of the entire region," Johnson said. He later added, “It is going to really be a beacon of economic activity and cultural activity." 

Before the museum opens, Babb said that the group will still need to raise $3.87 million. The museum is about to start another fundraiser to collect the remaining money. 

Alex Gladden is a University of Arkansas graduate. She previously reported for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Jonesboro Sun before joining the Times Record. She can be contacted at agladden@swtimes.com.