Lucky are the few who never lose their wide-eyed curiosity about the world around them. Although this comes naturally to children, many adults lose this sense of wonder when mortgages, taxes and other grown-up issues get in the way.
Ronen Mir of Batavia is among the lucky few. At 44 he is still an eager student, although his role is educator. Mir is executive director of the SciTech Interactive Museum in Aurora, and science education is not just his job, it’s his passion.
“I have so much fun because I keep learning too,” said the kinetic and upbeat Mir, who joined SciTech in 1999.
Mir’s enthusiasm is contagious, staff members said.
“`Can’t do it’ is not in his vocabulary,” said Libbie Randels, associate director. “I’ve eaten more crow in the last two years than I ever had before. He challenges us to be creative and try things we think won’t work.”
The result is international recognition for what began as a local museum, Randels said.
“We used to be the area’s best-kept secret,” she said. “Now people all over know about us, and our exhibits go everywhere from Rome to Australia to the Bahamas.”
The museum opened in 1990 in Aurora’s former post office, 18 W. Benton St.
Scientist with a vision
Born on an Israeli kibbutz and raised in Israel and Australia, Mir was recruited by SciTech board members, including David James, a senior research associate at the BP Research Center in Naperville.
“Ronen was the only candidate who was a scientist and had a background in museums,” James said. “From the start, he had a vision for SciTech.”
By the time Mir reached SciTech, he had amassed a lengthy resume that includes a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Hebrew University in Israel and master’s and doctorate degrees in high-energy physics from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.Mir had worked his way up the academic ladder to become a professor of physics at the University of Washington, a position in which he did research at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at Stanford University in California. Then he worked as an associate scientist for Indiana University at the CERN research lab in Geneva.
But Mir was having much more fun during his off hours teaching science concepts to children at outreach programs in rural Israel and at science camps and clubs in the U.S. and Europe. So in 1997 he went back to school to earn a certificate in museology (museum operation) from Tel Aviv University in Israel.
Making his mark
Mir made his mark in the museum world by creating a 2-acre, outdoor science museum at the Clore Garden of Science at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. At the Visitors Center there, he developed a physics exhibit called “What is the Universe?”
In 1998 he launched the development of a science museum at the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem.
The project, which is under construction, has become a collaboration among Al-Quds, Bloomsfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, the U.S. State Department and SciTech, with Mir at the helm.
He credits his wife, Debby, an environmental scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for the Al-Quds idea.
At SciTech, Mir is a networker with international ties.
His mission is, he said, “To develop SciTech into a world-class, innovative science museum.”
Under Mir’s direction, SciTech builds exhibits for museums across the country and abroad. It also hosts traveling exhibits and professionals from various scientific fields.
This summer, for example, SciTech hosted the traveling exhibit “T. rex, King of the Dinosaurs” and demonstrations by master glass blower Danny Nutman from Israel.
Focus on Midwest weather
Closer to home, Mir heads the Midwest Wild Weather Project, a nine-museum collection of educational programs and interactive exhibits for schools in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the three-year program began in the 2000-01 school year.
“One museum developed the teachers manual,” Mir said. “One did the signage, another developed the curriculum. SciTech made most of the exhibits.
“The weather topic allowed us to combine lessons in chemistry, physics, earth sciences, math and ecology. The kids love it.”
The Wild Weather project is such a hit, Mir said, that SciTech has applied for another NSF grant to launch a second multimuseum project.
“This is a great example of the kind of collaboration we should be doing more often,” Mir said.
A lot of expansion
Under Mir’s guidance, SciTech has expanded its educational programs, which already included hosting school field trips and visits by SciTech’s “explainers” to schools.
New programs are directed toward preschoolers, adults, Scouts and science and math teachers.
SciTech staff and volunteers also haul portable exhibits to dozens of community festivals each year.
The museum is expanding too. Construction is to begin this fall on a mezzanine level that will add enough space for five or six new exhibits. A park behind the museum, which contains 15 new exhibits, is near completion.
Mir’s 2001 to-do list also includes building additional links among SciTech, the corporate community and the schools.
The connection is a win-win situation because the schools need the resources and employers want to improve the science education of their future workforce, he said.
Strategic location
“We are in a unique site here, surrounded by universities, high-tech corporations and research facilities, including Fermilab and Argonne,” Mir said. “So we have a much higher community involvement than many museums, especially those abroad.”
Mir oversees a paid staff of 50 and a volunteer corps of 50. His management style is hands-off.
“My role is to be the team leader,” he said. “I design new programs, forge collaborations, then encourage the different department heads to work together.”
Mir’s wife and their children, Shlomi, 14, and Adva, 12, are his focus group for new ideas.
“We’ve been to dozens of science museums,” he said. “They give me plenty of advice, which I encourage.”
Mir’s only limitations are the bounds of non-profit SciTech’s budget, his colleagues said.
The operations budget for fiscal 2001 is $800,000, and $500,000 to $1 million is to be spent this year in capital upgrades, Mir said.
The museum and its programs are funded by donations, grants and admission fees.
Staying within framework
“`God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference,'” said Mir, quoting the Serenity Prayer, which has been attributed to 20th Century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
“We live in a world where there’s a framework. We have to do what we can within that framework.”
Fortunately for SciTech, Mir said he doesn’t define success in terms of money.
“I could make more in the corporate world, but I wouldn’t be happy,” he said.
Mir is happy to teach children science through interactive play while their parents discover that science is more than textbooks and lectures. Said Mir: “SciTech’s success is my success.”
Ronen Mir
Age: 44.
Title: Executive director, SciTech Interactive Museum in Aurora.
Years in field: Seven years in science museums, after a 14-year career in science education and research.
Greatest accomplishment: “Helping SciTech become one of the more innovative science museums in the U.S.”
Favorite science museums, other than SciTech: “The Glass Museum in Hergiswill, Switzerland, and the Exploratorium in San Francisco.”
Favorite part of the job: “Seeing the kids interact with the exhibits and hearing them say, `Wow!'”
Toughest part of the job: “To avoid micromanaging, to have the wisdom to let people take projects to fruition even if they’re not going in the direction I would take.”
Career turning point: “When I was 35, and working as a tenured professor, I decided that education through science museums was the right career move for me.”
Favorite book: “`The Story of San Michele'” by Axel Munthe. It is all about volunteering and giving to the community.”
Prized possessions: “Portraits of my great-grandparents.”
Proudest moments: “My daughter’s bat mitzvah and my son’s bar mitzvah. They are tradition, and tradition is important.”
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For more information about the SciTech Interactive Museum, call 630-859-3434, or visit its Web site, scitech.mus.il.us.
