DEARBORN — Dr. Anan Ameri, director of the Arab American National Museum (AANM) has announced that she will retire in mid-May 2013. 

Dr. Ameri, 67, of Ann Arbor, Michigan will return to the museum as a consultant on a project by project basis following a vacation of several months 

A committee is being assembled to conduct a national search for a new director. Ameri will remain at the Museum full-time until her retirement, but as of now, day-to-day operations are being overseen by Deputy Director Devon Akmon.

Dr. Ameri has played a crucial role in the creation and development of AANM and her insight and deep understanding of Arab Americans and the Arab World is reflected in the Museum’s world-class exhibits, leading-edge public programming, educational outreach and myriad annual and special events.

Dr. Anan Ameri

Under Dr. Ameri’s guidance, AANM achieved Smithsonian Affiliate status less than two years after opening in May 2005, and is deep into the process of earning accreditation from the American Association of Museums. In less than seven years, she was instrumental in building an institution that is nationally known for excellence in its field and has forged a reputation in the broader community as an advocate of civically engaged museums that are responsive and respectful of the diversity of the nation, and reflective of the concerns of the communities they serve.

 Dr. Ameri joined ACCESS in 1997, hired by Ismael Ahmed, who led ACCESS from its founding in 1971 through 2007. She oversaw a modest Cultural Arts program for the human services agency before her focus turned to planning and fund-raising for the AANM, a separate, permanent home for that program. Before coming to ACCESS, Dr. Ameri was a member of the organization’s Board of Directors from 1976-79. 

 In her role as AANM director, Ameri became a founding member of the U.S. arm of the international Immigration Sites of Conscience coalition, and a founding executive committee member of the Cultural Alliance of Southeast Michigan. 

She also serves as member of the American Association of Museums’ Global Track Advisory Council. Additionally, she personally created A Community Between Two Worlds: Arab Americans in Greater Detroit, an interpretive exhibit that has been shown at the Smithsonian and other renowned institutions; the oral history project Arab Americans and the Automobile: Voices from the Factory; and the oral history project/exhibition “In Times of War: Her Untold Story”, which was one of the AANM’s earliest temporary shows.

 In recent years, Dr. Anan Ameri has become a sought-after speaker on Arab and Muslim Americans, sharing her personal expertise and the Museum’s experiences with audiences in the U.S., in the Arab World and in nations including Japan and Brazil.