Fort Ticonderoga Director of Academic Programs, Richard Strum, has been awarded the 2019-2020 New York State Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies (NYSCSS) for the contributions made to Social Studies education in the community and New York State. The award ceremony will take place at the Albany Capital Center on March 13, 2020.
Strum joined the Fort Ticonderoga leadership staff in the spring of 1999. He currently serves as Director of Academic Programs, overseeing teacher professional development programs, public conferences and seminars, the Fort Ticonderoga publications program, and the Edward W. Pell Graduate Fellowship program. Through programs like the Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute, Strum has worked with over 350 educators from 47 states onsite at Ticonderoga during week-long programs. Since 2007, he has coordinated North Country History Day for students in the northeastern corner of New York State and currently serves on the New York State History Day Advisory Board.
“It is a great honor to be recognized by the New York State Council for the Social Studies for my leadership in social studies education in our community, across the state and reaching teachers and students in more than 47 states across our nation,” said Strum. “Through a variety of programs including Fort Ticonderoga’s Teacher Institute, I have been able to introduce teachers to new resources and methodologies while I apply Fort Ticonderoga’s mission into real-time action to educate and provoke an active discussion about the past and its importance to present and future generations.”
“Fort Ticonderoga is thrilled that Rich Strum, Fort Ticonderoga’s Director of Academic Programs, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies (NYSCSS). Rich’s passionate commitment to history education coupled with his ability to collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and geographic regions has enabled him to develop and implement nationally recognized academic programs and teacher education,” said Beth L. Hill, Fort Ticonderoga president and CEO. “The power of teacher engagement especially has an exponential impact, reaching hundreds and thousands of students year upon year with the intent to create a deeper capacity for historical literacy, critical thinking, and ultimately a more engaged citizenry.”
Rich Strum holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Houghton College and a Master of Arts in Education degree from the College of William & Mary. He has worked in museum education for more than 30 years at Shelburne Museum (1989-1999) and Fort Ticonderoga (since 1999).
About Fort Ticonderoga:
Welcoming visitors since 1909, Fort Ticonderoga preserves North America’s largest 18th-century artillery collection, 2,000 acres of historic landscape on Lake Champlain, and Carillon Battlefield, and the largest series of untouched Revolutionary War era earthworks surviving in America. As a multi-day destination and the premier place to learn more about our nation’s earliest years and America’s military heritage, Fort Ticonderoga engages more than 75,000 visitors each year with an economic impact of more than $12 million annually and offers programs, historic interpretation, boat cruises, tours, demonstrations, and exhibits throughout the year, and is open for daily visitation May through October. Fort Ticonderoga is supported in part through generous donations and with some general operating support made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.