An anthropologist whose leadership helped the Museum of Northern Arizona regain national accreditation and build one of the greenest collection centers in the world, will be honored during Northern Arizona University’s fall commencement ceremony.
Dr. Robert Breunig, president and chief executive officer for the Museum of Northern Arizona, will be presented an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Fall commencement at 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, in the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on the NAU campus.
In 2012, Breunig won the Individual Award at the 31st annual Arizona Governor’s Arts Awards. The honor was for being a living Arizona individual who has made a significant impact on arts and culture in Arizona through philanthropy, leadership, and/or direct involvement.
Recent challenges include re-roofing the Exhibit Building and restoring the historic Jaime Golightly Courtyard.
In the early 1970s, Breunig taught anthropology at Northern Arizona University. He first joined the Museum of Northern Arizona as an educator and curator from 1975 through 1982. Following numerous leadership national positions in cultural and institutional programming, Breunig rejoined the museum to direct its overall operations in 2003.
Under Breunig’s guidance, the historic museum regained its accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums after an improper sale of pieces in its collections to fund an operating deficit. Breunig also led the funding and building of the award-wining Easton Collection Center, a nationally recognized LEED Platinum collection facility housing more than 250,000 collection objects. The museum has since secured more than $2 million in collection improvement grants from federal agencies and foundations.
“The Museum of Northern Arizona has an amazing array of intellectual and physical assets with hugely important stories to tell,” Breunig says. “It is a mirror to our community, and the world, helping people understand where we have come from and where we are going.”
Breunig devotes his career to inspiring a sense of love and responsibility for the Colorado Plateau, including strengthening the museum relationships with Hopi, Zuni, Navajo tribes and the local Hispanic community. In collaboration with NAU, he sought funding to support the museum’s Danson Chair of Anthropology, filled by Kelley Hays-Gilpin, an anthropology professor at NAU.
A native of Indianapolis, Breunig holds an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Kansas. He served as Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Anthropology at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, as the Executive Director of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and was the Executive Director of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.
Breunig is a member of the Flagstaff Forty, a commissioner on the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and serves as the President of the Northern Arizona Branch of the United States Green Building Council. President George Bush appointed Breunig to serve on the governing board of the National Museum Service Board. President William Clinton renewed the position, and Breunig served on the board for more than a decade.
The Museum of Northern Arizona is celebrating its 85th year of inspiring a sense of love and responsibility for the Colorado Plateau through collecting, studying, interpreting, and preserving the region’s natural and cultural heritage.
The Museum of Northern Arizona is at 3101 N. Fort Valley Road in Flagstaff, Arizona. For information, go to musnaz.org or call 928.774.5213.
Image: Robert Bruenig, photo by Dawn Kish