Norm Parsons, interim president of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, announced that a new replacement for longtime executive director Dr. John Gable has been found. The TRA Executive Committee has appointed James H. Bruns as its president, a position he will assume on or before July 1.

During his tenure, Dr. John Gable's title was executive director and since that time it has been changed to president. Currently, Mr. Parsons is the interim president: Mr. Bruns will be the new TRA president.

"Jim Bruns is an experienced professional with a remarkable track record of successfully building historical organizations, having done so for both the federal government and the private not-for-profit community," said Barbara Berryman Brandt, chairman of the Association's Executive Committee. "We expect him to significantly enhance the stature and reach of the Theodore Roosevelt Association as it strives to perpetuate the memory of President Roosevelt's contributions to the United States and the world."

Most interesting for Oyster Bay, the TRA is planning to create a Theodore Roosevelt museum/study center/headquarters in Oyster Bay. When Sagamore Hill was recently considering a new management plan for their national historic site, one of the things they considered was a Theodore Roosevelt library for research and study, but that didn't work itself into the final plans, said Mr. Parsons. "The new home is more of an idea," he said. "One of possibility. There is a large TR collection at Harvard and at the Library of Congress. He was a very prolific writer. But, with a study center with the new electronics you don't have to have everything stored at one location. They could come and do research accessing information at other institutions."

He said, "One of the things we are supporting is a conference space for education meetings or community issues. It will be not only for TR events, but for the community's use."

Mr. Bruns said, "I see the work that is to be done in the coming years in honoring the contributions of President Roosevelt as the nation prepares to honor the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2008 and as the Association prepares to commemorate its centennial in 2019 as the icing on my career cake."

He added, "I support the association's plans to move the organization to new levels of service, and as it plans to establish a permanent home for itself and create a fitting place of national reflection in honoring the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt."

Looking at Mr. Bruns career resume it is evident that he is eminently qualified to create a new TR museum. Mr. Bruns takes over as the association's president following a four-year tenure with the Atlanta Historical Society, where he served as its president and chief executive officer. During Mr. Bruns' tenure the Atlanta Historical Society raised over $28 million for capital improvements and special projects; constructed the Centennial Olympic Games Museum addition, which opened in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Atlanta Games; acquired the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum; and restored its three historic houses. He also was instrumental in creating the I Have A Dream exhibition, which currently is showcasing the papers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Society's Atlanta History Center campus. Another special initiative he led in recent years has been the Society's acquisition of significant Civil War artifacts, items that now rank Atlanta's collections as among the world's largest.

Prior to coming to Atlanta in 2003, Mr. Bruns enjoyed a 20-year career with the Smithsonian Institution, where he served in a number of senior leadership positions, including serving as a full curator and deputy executive director of the National Philatelic Collection, as the founding director of the National Postal Museum, as the director of operations for the under secretary for American Museums and National Programs, and as the Smithsonian's overall director of development, a position that enabled him to assist in raising over $164 million.

Over the years the Theodore Roosevelt Association has purchased what was then Analostan Island on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., and presented it to the federal government as "Theodore Roosevelt Island" in 1932; purchased and restored Roosevelt's home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York; and donated both Sagamore Hill and Roosevelt's birthplace in New York City to the National Park Service in 1962. The Association also assembled a collection of over 12,000 books and pamphlets, 3,500 cartoons, 10,000 photographs and thousands of letters, manuscripts and other materials and presented it to Harvard, Roosevelt's alma mater, as the "Theodore Roosevelt Collection." The association also established the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund at the American Museum of National History for annual grants in field research in North American ecology and natural history. It also provides support to maintain the Roosevelt gravesite at Oyster Bay and recognizes police officers who have overcome handicaps and continue to render outstanding service with the annual Theodore Roosevelt Police Awards, now given in New York, Dallas, Boston, and other cities. The Association also awards the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to men and women who have rendered outstanding service in fields in which Theodore Roosevelt worked. One hundred such medals have been awarded since 1923 to such Americans as Charles A. Lindbergh, Helen Keller, Irving Berlin, Alan B. Shepard, and former President George Bush and first lady Barbara Bush. The Association also provides teddy bears to hospitalized children in New York City during the December holiday season.

In a C-SPAN poll conducted in 2000, viewers ranked Theodore Roosevelt third overall in the ranking of the nation's top 10 presidents, succeeded only by Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. In that same poll of presidential leadership, historians and presidential scholars placed Theodore Roosevelt fourth overall for his public persuasion, crisis management, economic management, moral authority, international relations, administrative skills, relations with Congress, pursuit of equal justice, and performance within the context of the times.

Mr. Bruns holds membership in a number of professional, historic and civic organizations, including Rotary International, the American Association of Museums, the American Association for State and Local History, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Buckhead Coalition.

He has served on the boards of the Spellman Philatelic Museum, the Postal History Foundation, the Envelope Manufacturers Association, the Marietta Aeronautical Museum and Education Center, and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The recipient of numerous professional awards, including the Smithsonian's Superior Individual Achievement Award, Mr. Bruns has curated over 20 exhibitions, written over 150 articles, and authored 11 books.

The Theodore Roosevelt Association is a national historical society and public service organization founded in January 1919 by the 26th president's friends a few days after his death and formally chartered by an Act of Congress on May 31, 1920.

The TRA Executive Committee members include:

Adm. C.S. Abbot, USN (Ret.)

Mark A. Ames

Barbara Berryman Brandt

Robert D. Dalziel

David A. Folz

Anna Carlson Gannett

Rogina L. Jeffries

Stephen B. Jeffries

Dr. Gary P. Kearney

Harry N. Lembeck

Rear Admiral P.W. Parcells, USN (Ret.)

Norman Parsons

Elizabeth E. Roosevelt

Tweed Roosevelt

Simon Roosevelt

William D. Schaub

James Summerville

Dr. William N. Tilchin

Major Gregory A. Wynn, USMC

The Hon. Lee Yeakel

Note: D. F. Karppi has added details to this story.