Thomas J. Putnam
Director
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
The National Archives and Records Administration announced the appointment of Thomas J. Putnam as Director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum effective January 2007. The appointment was made by Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, who oversees the nation’s archives and presidential libraries. Putnam became the fifth person to serve as director of the national memorial to President John F. Kennedy since it was dedicated in 1979.
Putnam first joined the Kennedy Library in 1999 and has held several major management positions at the Kennedy Library prior to his elevation as director, including Director of Education, Deputy Director, and Acting Director.
As Director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Putnam has overall responsibility for the Library’s core function of collecting, preserving and making available to the public the documents, audiovisual material and memorabilia of President Kennedy and his administration. In this role, Putnam works closely with the Kennedy Library Foundation, the non-profit organization that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Putnam first joined the Kennedy Presidential Library in 1999 as Director of Education and worked to strengthen the Library’s educational offerings by recruiting dynamic new staff; upgrading the Kennedy Library Forum Series; developing new museum and civic education programs; organizing teacher institutes; launching the Celebrate! performance arts series for families; and expanding outreach to underserved student populations through a free bus program. He earned two Archivist Awards – the highest honor bestowed on National Archives employees – for his work on the “Responding to Terrorism” Kennedy Library Forum Series launched in the aftermath of 9/11 and for his work on the Dialogue in Diversity initiative which brings urban, suburban, and rural students together to discuss contemporary issues.
In 2003, Putnam was appointed Deputy Director with responsibility for overseeing the Library’s $8 million annual budget and for managing all facility, security, and administrative issues and staff. He served as liaison with the Kennedy Library Foundation with which the Library partnered on several ground-breaking initiatives including the creation and launch of a new website and the building of a new digital archives made possible by the in-kind donation of EMC Corporation. In addition, Putnam has overseen the planning and design of a proposed building addition project which will provide the Kennedy Presidential Library with an additional 30,000 square feet of storage required for the safe preservation of President Kennedy’s papers.
A graduate of Bowdoin College and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Putnam’s career has bridged the fields of education and government including earning a Watson Fellowship to examine education policy in Quebec and Fulbright Scholarship in Senegal, West Africa. Before coming to the Library he directed a federally funded Upward Bound program that helped low income high school students to be the first in their families to attend college.