Thomas Henry Krakauer was born in Buffalo, NY, in 1942, to parents who fled Nazi Germany in 1937. He grew up in the nearby small town of Boston, where the creek behind the family home gave him his first taste of and love for nature. Tom received a Ph.D in zoology and physiology from the University of Florida in 1970. He married Janet McColl and they had one son, Alan. In 1974 he entered the museum field as director of the Roanoke Valley Science Museum in Roanoke, Virginia, a position he held until Durham’s North Carolina Museum of Life and Science came calling in 1985. Tom accepted the position of president and CEO, retiring in 2003 after taking the museum from a small, hometown institution to a leader among museums of science and technology. The beloved Butterfly House is one of the many expansions and improvements that came under his direction. He secured six National Science Foundation grants during his tenure, promoted inclusivity throughout his career, and helped innovate informal science education through his consulting and work with professional organizations. He was a dedicated Rotarian and an avid and accomplished birder and genealogist.

In 2007 the committee to start a Durham history museum contacted Tom about helping out. Committees as far back as the 1940s had attempted to found a history museum, without success. Tom accepted the challenge, and a few months down the road the budding Museum of Durham History had its nonprofit status, Tom was building an impressive board and serving as its first chair, and volunteers were working on a traveling exhibit. The museum was on its way! Tom continued to work tirelessly for the Museum of Durham History until his health no longer allowed.

---