Linda Deck/Photo Courtesy LANL

LANL NEWS RELEASE

Linda Deck, the Bradbury Science Museum’s director, is set to retire from her position next month.

She will remain at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a program manager to oversee the completion of the Bradbury’s upcoming nuclear weapons exhibit. Her successor will be announced in the coming weeks. As the Bradbury’s longest-serving director and beloved member of the Los Alamos community, Deck’s departure is a significant milestone in the museum’s history.

Deck became the museum’s director in 2007. “I tell people, ‘I wasn’t born in New Mexico but I got here as soon as I could,’” jokes Deck. A native of Buffalo, New York, Deck received her undergraduate degree in biology and geology at the University of Rochester and went on to graduate school at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where she studied geology and paleontology. Her scientific background paved the way to a career at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. After 20 years at the Smithsonian, she became the director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History. Ultimately, she found her way to Los Alamos, trading in natural history for national security science. “I loved interpreting dinosaurs, don’t get me wrong,” says Deck. “But working every day to help people understand the work and importance of the Lab is so, so satisfying.”