Hillary Olson Is Leaving RMSC. Here's What She Built — and Why It Matters to Rochester Families.

There is a particular kind of Saturday afternoon that Rochester parents know well. You pack up the kids and head out on foot, and when you live six or seven blocks from East Avenue, the RMSC is an easy walk. My kids grew up doing exactly this. When they were in elementary school, Saturday afternoons at RMSC became a ritual — a chance for quality dad time while mom got a break, the kind of afternoon that felt both useful and genuinely fun.

We did everything. The big slide. The earthquake simulator. The newscaster booth where they could see themselves on screen. The dinosaur bones. And often, a star show at the Planetarium — followed by the kids tearing through the planet tunnel on the way out, every single time, like it never got old. It didn't. Lunch in the atrium was always the same: chicken fingers shaped like little dinosaurs, served with a small toy, eaten under that wall of windows that fills the space with light even in a Rochester winter. The build-it area kept them busy long after we had run out of things to see elsewhere — erector sets, hands-on projects, the kind of play that makes kids science-curious without them realizing it.

I thought about all of that when I read that Hillary Olson is leaving.

RMSC is one of the top five most visited attractions in Monroe County. Here is how its scale compares across its three main components:

Olson joined RMSC in 2018 as its seventh president — a native of the Rochester area with a background that included the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium. She came in knowing both the science museum world and this community.

She leaves in June to become CEO of Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. By any measure, the transition looks like a strong one on both ends. She guided the RMSC through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a strong recovery that returned attendance to pre-2019 levels. She also led a collaborative effort across staff, board, volunteers, and community stakeholders to develop a comprehensive Master Plan and strategic vision, positioning the RMSC for long-term sustainability and continued regional impact.

That is not a small thing. The master plan is in place, attendance is back, and another institution recognized her well enough to recruit her to lead it.

"I am leaving at a time when the organization is strong, and the future is incredibly bright."

— Hillary Olson, RMSC President & CEO, April 2026

Olson's eight-year tenure spans three distinct phases: pre-pandemic growth, COVID survival, and recovery. Here is how RMSC attendance tracked across those years relative to the 2019 baseline:

RMSC is one of the top five most visited attractions serving children and families in Monroe County, with more than 120 interactive exhibits, a 65-foot dome planetarium, and the Cumming Nature Center on 900 acres with 12 miles of trails. Those numbers tell part of the story. But the real value of a place like RMSC is harder to quantify.

It is repeatable — my kids never got bored of it because there was always something new to build, something new to watch, something new to wonder at. And it is genuinely community-centered in a way that larger institutions in bigger cities often are not. You run into neighbors there. You see school groups from across the county. It is a place where Rochester recognizes itself.

That kind of institution does not happen by accident. It takes consistent leadership that understands both the mission and the community it serves. RMSC's 1.2 million collection items tell the story of the Rochester region — here is how that collection breaks down across its major categories:

Board chair Jackie Lee offered a confident note: "The next leader will inherit a strong foundation and an organization set up for success. We are grateful for Hillary's leadership and confident in the institution's future."

That confidence is worth taking seriously. But the right next leader matters enormously. RMSC is not just a building full of exhibits — it is a community anchor, one of the places that makes Rochester worth staying in and raising kids in. Whoever follows Olson needs to understand that the job is not just operational. It is relational. It is about being present in the community, knowing what families need, and protecting the character of a place that generations of Rochester kids have grown up loving.

RMSC operates across three distinct venues. Each requires its own programming strategy and audience — and the next leader inherits all three:

A Good Problem to Have

A Good Problem to Have

Olson's departure is a loss, but it is the best kind — another institution recognized how good she is, and she is leaving the place stronger than she found it.

Rochester should take that at face value, and hold the board to finding someone who can carry it forward.

In the meantime — if you have kids and you have not been to RMSC lately, go. Watch a star show. Run through the planet tunnel. Stand on the earthquake simulator. It is exactly as good as you remember.