Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society has announced the appointment of C. Thomas “Tom” Chapman as its new executive director.
He will assume responsibilities on April 1, 2020.
Chapman brings a breadth and scope of knowledge and experience to the position. A Virginia native, with his BA in history from James Madison University and an MA in anthropology from the College of William and Mary, Chapman researched and produced the family genealogy for President James Madison as part of his master’s thesis for William and Mary.
He brings more than 20 years of historic site management experience working for James Madison’s Montpelier as an archaeologist, research historian, executive project manager and director of operations.
Chapman switched career paths in 2015 from directing non-profit museum operations to managing a large private agricultural and environment property where he oversaw a staff of thirty on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
He returned to Virginia in 2018 from the Eastern Shore, kept himself active in non-profit management as an independent contractor, and with his wife, started Westwind Flowers LLC, a small business in Orange County focusing on the production of locally grown and sustainable cut flowers.
“I look forward to the challenges and opportunities I will find at my doorstep as the new Executive Director for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society,” Chapman said. “The Society is a museum, it is a library, but most of all it is, or it should be, an organization that finds its strength, its purpose, and its guidance from the Charlottesville and Albemarle County community. For 80 years, the ACHS has been a part of this community, and I look forward to helping shape the Society’s future. There are important stories to tell, not only about the past, but which intertwine with the present to teach us who we are as a community now and what that means for our future.”
“Tom Chapman is the right person at the right time to help the ACHS reach its full potential. His experience, personality, expertise are all impressive, and are a perfect fit for a strong board and a needy community says Dan Jordan, Managing Partner, Bryan Jordan Consulting”
“We are very excited to have Tom taking on the role of the executive director of ACHS,” said Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, the board president. “Tom brings to the job an exceptional combination of energy, sensitivity, and proven leadership to the challenges of working with preserving and sharing history. Both the Board and Staff are impressed with his extensive knowledge of history, his over 20-years of work within the central Virginia area, and his strong management skills. We expect Tom to not only continue the ACHS’s excellent programs, but to work with our community partners and funders to help expand the ACHS’s programs.”
ACHS is a private non-profit educational organization founded in 1940 and dedicated to the study, preservation, and promotion of Charlottesville and Albemarle County history.
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