State Historical Society of Missouri Executive Director Gary Kremer will retire from his position in 2025 after more than 21 years with the Society.
Kremer announced his retirement plans at the recent annual meeting of the State Historical Society of Missouri, according to a news release. During his tenure, Kremer led the organization through a significant growth in services and facilities to benefit Missourians across the state.
“Gary Kremer has become the unofficial State Historian to many Missourians over the last two decades,” former Missouri Senator and SMHS president Roy Blunt said in the release. “Among the Society’s greatest achievements during Gary’s extraordinary leadership was securing $35 million in state bond funds for the construction of a new headquarters building that opened in 2019.”
Also under Kremer’s leadership, SMHS established new research centers in Cape Girardeau and Springfield, expanding the society’s network to six centers across the state.
Kremer also served on the Missouri Bicentennial Commission in 2021, which oversaw the planning of statewide bicentennial activities.
The State Historical Society of Missouri Board of Trustees will immediately begin a search for a new executive director, who will begin duties when Kremer retires next fall, the news release said.