Natural History Museum’s Director Mahan Is Fired

The head of the San Diego Natural History Museum has been fired, board members announced Wednesday.

Director Hal Mahan, who held the post for 2 1/2 years, had come under fire from his senior staff, many of whom expressed their displeasure in a March letter to the museum board that accused Mahan of incompetence.

The letter said that Mahan “acted in a reckless and uninformed manner.”

Mahan, who lives in Jamul, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. He will be replaced on a interim basis by Allan Shaw, a former board trustee.

“It’s really not our policy, or let’s say I don’t think it’s appropriate, to discuss personnel matters in the press,” museum president Pam Bruder said Wednesday. “I would say of that letter that the staff is over it, and that it’s old news.”

Bruder said at the time the letter was written that the board backed Mahan because the writing of the letter “was not a professional thing to do.”

Asked if the letter, and the staff’s discontent, had ultimately worked against Mahan, Bruder sighed and said, “Sometimes, a person can be in a difficult place at a difficult time. Our institution is 115 years old. We’ve come a long way, but we need to march forward at a rapid rate. Sometimes, things need to change. It was time for a change of direction.”

Shaw, whose full-time position is president of Uniforce Temporary Services, a temporary employment agency, said he felt the board’s and Mahan’s parting was largely a mutual decision.

“All I know is, the board elected not to renew Hal’s contract, which was up in October,” Shaw said. “Hal said he had accepted another job. That’s pretty much the extent of my direct knowledge.”

Mahan has reportedly accepted a position with an East Coast museum.

“We appreciate Dr. Mahan’s work for the museum over the past 2 1/2 years, especially in spearheading our exhibits master plan,” Bruder said in a prepared statement. “Currently, however, the museum is undergoing an exciting renovation that necessitated a change in management to meet the growth and challenges of the ‘90s. We wish Dr. Mahan well and look forward to future plans for the museum.”

Shaw, who had served on the museum board for six years, said Mahan excelled at public relations and was primarily responsible for importing to the museum, from the Smithsonian Institution, a current exhibit exposing the decimation of the world’s rain forests.

“Hal did some tremendous things, but didn’t move us along as quickly as we had hoped,” Shaw said.

Mahan came to San Diego from the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, N.Y. He had previously worked for 10 years as director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.