Bryan W. Kwapil, Vice President for Collections and Exhibitions at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, afloat in New York harbor.   Before assuming his current position in June of 2009,   Mr. Kwapil held positions with the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland,  the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis Arts Garden, and Conner Prairie 1836, a period village near Indianapolis.  

The Grand Rapids native served from 1987 to 1996 as Curator of Collections at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, where he assisted in management of the Museum’s expansive collection and the arduous transition of parts of that collection in 1994 to the Public Museum’s new facility.   At Van Andel Museum Center, he was project manager, curator and script writer for multiple new exhibitions, including  Anisinabek: The People of this Place . 

Mr. Kwapil received his undergraduate degree in anthropology and history from the University of Michigan and masters in museum sciences from the University of Washington in Seattle.   He was a grant reviewer for the Institute of Museum Services from 1988 to 1996 and currently serves as a Museum Assessment and Accreditation Reviewer for the American Association of Museums.

Mr. Kwapil is currently principal researcher and curator for an exciting new exhibit aboard Intrepid, an aircraft carrier which saw distinguished service in World War II, the Viet Nam War, and as a recovery vessel for Apollo missions.     Entitled “27 Seconds” the display centers on the Apollo 1 spacecraft fire that took the lives of astronauts Roger Chaffee, Virgil Grissom, and Edward White in 1967, and how important changes to the Apollo program  in its aftermath contributed to the triumph of a successful lunar landing two and one half years later.