Advisory Board
Van W. Shields
Director & CEO of the Culture & Heritage Museums, Rock Hill, SC
Van W. Shields is the Director & CEO of the Culture & Heritage Museums, a system of cultural institutions in York County, South Carolina. He is responsible for envisioning and leading the development of the Stans Museum of Life and the Environment, conceived as the nation’s first museum to explore the dynamic intersection of people and place through the lens of environmental history, and Kanawha, a 350-acre mixed-use community integrating new urbanism with eco-intelligent design that will surround the Museum.
He is a former Air Force officer and businessman, and has served on many commissions and boards related to economic and community development and environmental advocacy. He was a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and in his last Air Force position he served as the public spokesman for his alma mater, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He is a Coro Foundation Fellow and American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow and a graduate of Leadership New York City and Leadership South Carolina.
He cites his ardent backpacking in the Boy Scouts, his participation in celebrating the first Earth Day as a college student, and service as a planning commissioner in Arcata, California as important experiences in developing his vision to promote a culture of understanding about deep ecology and the web of life. In 2003 Van was chosen as a Guardian of the Environment by the Charlotte Observer in recognition for his work to promote a sustainable future in the two Carolinas.