ABOUT DOUGLAS STARK

Douglas Stark’s career has focused on making sports history more engaging,  relevant, and accessible to a diverse audience. His experience includes  strategic planning, fiscal management, project management, facility  development, historic preservation, collections care, content and exhibition development, branding and messaging, product development, programming  and outreach, and audience engagement. Through the lens of sports and  sports history, he has created not just museum engagements, but public  forums for important contemporary conversations about race, gender, and  social justice. Throughout, sport plays a significant role as a form of cultural  expression and an agent for social change.  

For 13 years, Doug served as Museum Director of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Under  his leadership, the museum underwent a $3 million renovation to the visitor experience in 2015,  initiated a long-term digitization project of its collection along with award-winning online  exhibitions, grew its world-class collection, developed traveling exhibitions, and elevated its  national and international reputation. He successfully directed the museum’s accreditation by  the American Alliance of Museums, becoming the first sports hall of fame to be accredited. He  oversaw acceptance of the museum as the first independent sports hall of fame to be named a  Smithsonian Affiliate.  

Additionally, Doug focused on the preservation of the Newport Casino, home to the museum and  a National Historical Landmark. His efforts led the museum to the Stewardship Award by  Preserve RI/ The Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, and the Doris  Duke Preservation Award by the Newport Restoration Foundation. He successfully directed the  Tennis Hall of Fame’s accredited (AIA RI) architectural symposium for eight years. 

From 1998 to 2008, Doug held positions at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and  the United States Golf Association Museum, where he was part of capital projects that rebuilt  two sports museums. He currently serves as a consultant to two new sports museums under  development--The National Sailing Museum and the International Marathon Center. Doug has  been an adjunct professor/lecturer in the Museum Studies Program at Harvard University. He  received the 2016 International Sports Heritage Association’s (ISHA) W.R. “Bill” Schroeder  Award for Meritorious Service. He is past President of the New England Museum Association  (NEMA) and received a NEMA Excellence Award in 2021. 

A native of Massachusetts, Doug holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in non-profit management  from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He pursued graduate studies at New York  University where he earned an M.A. in American history and dual certification in Museum  Studies, as well as in Archival Management, Historical Society Administration and Historical  Editing. He is a graduate of Brandeis University where he received his B.A. in American History  with a minor in the History of Art. He has a certificate in Fundraising from Boston University.  

Doug speaks regularly on the role of sports history and museum practices and is the author of  seven books and is currently co-editing a book about sports interpretation, and two volumes  about race and sports in Boston.