Chief Administrator

As the Chief Administrator, Office of Museum Services, Chris Reich serves as the senior policy and technical expert, analyst, and advisor to the Deputy Director for Museum Services on a broad range of organizational, managerial, and technical issues related to grants management and agency operations. In this position, he provides oversight and coordination of the agency's museum funding programs. He also manages several interagency and cooperative agreements and contracts, and serves as a liaison to many external federal and other partner organizations. Reich began work at IMLS in 2006 as a Senior Program Officer; in that capacity, he launched and oversaw the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program and managed the 21st Century Museum Professionals grant program.

Prior to joining IMLS, Reich was the director and CEO of the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science in Davenport, Iowa, where he oversaw the completion of an innovative environmental exhibit hall, the construction of an IMAX® 3D Theatre, and the creation of a new image for the 135-year-old institution, which serves 18 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Previously, he served for 13 years as director of the Anniston Museum of Natural History in Anniston, Alabama, where his implementation of professional practices resulted in the museum’s accreditation by the AAM. He also worked for nine years as the curator of natural sciences at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he was involved with the care and control of natural history collections and the expansion of educational and volunteer programming.

Reich holds a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology and a Master of Business Administration degree. He has served on the governing boards of the Southeastern Museums Conference and the Iowa Museum Association and served terms as president of the Association of Midwest Museums, the Alabama Museums Association, and the Eastern Iowa Tourism Association. Reich has also been active in the communities where he has lived over the years, including participation in Rotary clubs, chambers of commerce, and other organizations.