The director of the Museum of the Aleutians has resigned after just four months on the job.
Dr. Neal Hitch signed a three-year contract with Unalaska's cultural history museum in August. But last week, he said unforeseen circumstances have forced him to leave the island.
"I've just had some personal family matters come up, and I have to return to California to take care of that stuff," said Hitch. "It's kind of unfortunate, but some personal things in my own life just made the location impossible."
Over the summer, Hitch helped reopen the museum. It had been closed for about a year, following the resignation of the previous director when items from the collection were found in her home.
Hitch has since hired a collections manager, organized a series of temporary exhibits, and revised the museum's strategic plan with the board of directors.
"As I've worked with the board on strategic planning and rewriting our core documents, I think one of the things that everyone was really interested in is developing a real deep sense of community engagement," he said.
The museum will stay open despite Hitch's departure, and he says staff will continue to focus on outreach. He says they also plan to develop more exhibits and host more researchers in the future.
The museum's board is now searching for Hitch's replacement, but officials say they haven't decided on a timeline for hiring. Meanwhile, Hitch says he'll resume his previous teaching job at San Diego State University next month.
