Jim Bennett Retires
Professor Jim Bennett retired on 30th September after 18 years as Director of the Museum of the History of Science. Jim’s creative, energetic and hands-on approach to running a Museum saw the MHS and its audience grow year on year. When he started at the Museum, it received under 20,000 visitors a year. A large-scale redevelopment in 1999 paved the way for extended opening hours and a programme of ambitious special exhibitions and events which have increased the audience numbers tenfold.
Exhibitions curated by Jim range from high-profile academic shows such as the recent ‘The Renaissance in Astronomy’ to the more quirky ‘Steampunk’ and ‘Bye-bye Blackboard’, all of which have captured the public’s imagination. He has contributed enormously to the Museum’s standing in Oxford and internationally.