Michael Jehle has been the executive director of the Fairfield Museum and History Center since 2006. In that role he directs organizational operations, leads planning and institutional advancement and guides the Museum’s many educational and community initiatives. Jehle led the creation of the Fairfield Museum facility on Fairfield’s historic Town Green and has guided a comprehensive revitalization of the Museum; accelerating its growth and outreach services, tripling its budget, building new sources of earned and contributed income, and successfully expanding the organization’s program outreach to reach new regional audiences.
Following an early career as a tall ship mariner, Jehle has been a museum professional for more than 35 years. He has worked at a wide range of organizations, including Mystic Seaport and the Philadelphia Maritime Museum. He served for 10 years as the Director of Museums and Curator at Nantucket Historical Association and as Chief Operating Officer at New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts.
A native of St. Louis, Jehle obtained a bachelor’s degree in History and American Studies from Kalamazoo College, and earned a Master’s degree with honors in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been honored as a Paul Cuffee Fellow, a Sainsbury Institute Fellow, a fellow at the Getty Leadership Institute, a visiting curator at the Austrian National Maritime Museum, and most recently as a founding member of the Fairfield County Community Foundation’s Executive Leadership Program.
