William Tramposch

TOUR LECTURERS

Bill Tramposch received a B.A. degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in English and American Literature from UC, Berkeley, in 1970. He later completed his Doctoral work at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Tramposch has spent his career in leadership roles in museums and heritage both in the United States and New Zealand. He was a department head at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; President of the New York Historical Association; and most recently was the Executive Director of The Nantucket Historical Association. Retired now, he lives with his wife, Peggy, in Mendocino and enjoys his various assignments as a Lecturer in the Cal Discoveries program. Having a passion for travel, he has twice held Fulbright Fellowships to New Zealand and in subsequent years he served as a founding director of ‘Te Papa’, The National Museum of New Zealand, and then as Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand Heritage Places, the country’s equivalent to our National Trust for Historic Preservation. During his decade in New Zealand he participated often in preservation initiatives in the Pacific Rim, and particularly in Japan. Furthermore, he has traveled often to Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Northern Italy and studied at the Goethe Institut in Murnau West Germany. Since retirement he has particularly enjoyed trekking in the Swiss Alps. Understandably, his particular interest is in built heritage and in his lectures he often uses museums as touchstones for our understanding matters of national identity.