GREENVILLE — Halsey Spruance, the executive director of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science, will be stepping down from the top post in 2025.
Formerly known as the Delaware Museum of Natural History, the museum made the announcement on Oct. 1, although Spruance will transition to an advisory role through next year to ease the transition. Spruance has led Delaware’s oldest nature museum for 17 years and helped shape where it is today with a multi-million dollar capital campaign and a renovation project.
The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science Board of Trustees has brought on conservation organization consultancy firm Canopy Strategic Partners to manage the executive director search.
“First and foremost, I call this a stepping down, rather than retirement. After 17 years, it’s time to pass the baton,” Spruance said in prepared comments to the Delaware Business Times. “We finished a transformational renovation in 2022. Since then, we’ve had two years to see the new museum in operation, and we’ve laid out a strategic plan looking five years down the line. The museum is in a very strong place right now, which is always the best time for leadership change.”
Spruance is the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science’s sixth leader and its longest serving one since it opened its doors in the 1970s. The museum was built upon John E. du Pont’s vast collection of seashells and bird eggs which were used in early scientific studies on pesticide contamination on wild animals. Today, the museum’s collection includes close to two million mollusk specimens – the 10th largest collection in North America.
Before he joined the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science, Spruance was a nature enthusiast ever since his grandfather gifted him a subscription to the National Geographic when he was nine years old. He later embarked on a career at the National Geographic Society and eventually served at the Brandywine Conservancy.
During his tenure at the museum, Spruance led a staff of 27 employees and helped grow many popular events, like the signature Wine & Dinosaurs fundraiser that kicked off in 2017. That event raised $6,000 in its inaugural year. Last September, the Wine & Dinosaurs fundraiser brought 460 people together and raised a net profit of $100,000.
Perhaps his most visible achievement – Spruance also spearheaded a $9.8 million capital campaign to transform the museum to include several interactive exhibits. When the museum reopened in 2022, there were new galleries, updated technology and a floor map of Delaware that features local wildlife in the state, like an oyster reef and chipmunks. The project also included replicas of dinosaurs in the PaleoZone, complete with a fossil station.
The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science reported that 80,000 visitors walked through its doors in 2023, which is the first full year the museum was open after renovations. That is 15% more attendance than its pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The museum also reached an additional 11,000 people with offsite programming.
It is estimated that more than one million visitors interacted with the museum during Spruance’s tenure, either coming through its doors or participating in its programs, according to Delaware Museum of Nature & Science.
“In terms of anything I’ve made my mark with, I can’t take credit as it’s all a team effort,” Spruance said.
While Spruance will remain as the museum’s leader until 2025 and for the following months as a consultant, he said he has some “fun ideas in the works,” but said it would be premature to say what they were at this time.
“My heart will always be with the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science,” he said.