Tim Ritchie leaving The Tech to lead Boston Science Museum

After leading The Tech through a period of evolution and growth, President and CEO Tim Ritchie will be leaving the science center in January to take the helm at the prestigious Museum of Science in Boston.

Ritchie, 58, is wistful about leaving San Jose and the Bay Area, but he says that he’s proud of how far the Tech has come since he arrived in October 2011.

“When I came here, I knew that the mission to inspire the innovator in everyone was so full of potential. It was just a steady drum beat over these 8¼ years to help people express that on the exhibit floor and out in the community,” Ritchie said. “Whenever we could, we said the most important word in that mission statement is ‘everyone.’ ”

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who was the downtown councilman when Ritchie came on board, said it’s a big loss for the community. “San Jose has been blessed to have such a creative and inspirational leader at the helm of the Tech Interactive, and while I hate seeing Tim go I know he’ll be a tremendous force for good in Boston and beyond,” he said.

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During Ritchie’s tenure, the Tech has undergone changes both subtle and dramatic, the most obvious — altering its name from the Tech Museum of Innovation to the Tech Interactive this past May. But the Tech also moved away from large traveling exhibits to refreshing the permanent exhibits at the distinctive mango-and-azure structure in downtown San Jose.

Gone are shows on Leonardo da Vinci and “Star Trek” — while popular with visitors, most of the shows ended up losing money for the Tech — and in are new interactive experiences like the BioDesign Studio, CyberDetectives, and Body Worlds Decoded. Under Ritchie, the annual Tech Awards transformed into the year-round Tech for Global Good program. (READ MORE)