INVITATION TO IMAGINATION

As Vice President of Public Programs and Director of Content Development at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Dr. Vitali has, since 2003, conceived and produced three acclaimed exhibits ( L.A.: light/ motion/ dreams ; Conversations , and Collapse? ) and an ongoing, complementary educational and performing arts series, First Fridays ; in addition, she has performed a pivotal role in the planning, developing and concept design for the institution's New Museum Project. Prior to her tenure at the NHM, she served as Advisor to the President of the Royal Ontario Museum (1999-2002); as a director of international heritage and museum based projects in France, Tunisia, and Canada (1989-1999). A citizen of Canada, Dr. Vitali received her doctoral degree in 1985 in Materials Science from the University of Toronto in 1985 and her postdoctoral studies in Epistemology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris in 1988.