Michael Lesperance

At Johns Hopkins, Michael Lesperance serves as a lecturer in the MA in Museum Studies program. From 1998-2023, Lesperance co-owned The Design Minds, Inc., one of the leading exhibition planning and design firms in the country and remains affiliated as a Founding Principal of the firm. He has worked on projects at scores of institutions including state history museums (Oregon, Mississippi, and Utah), federal agencies (most significantly the National Park Service), and a host of local and regional institutions. He is currently working on projects in Montana, Utah, and Washington, D.C.

An NAI-Certified Interpretive Planner, and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Lesperance is a leader in the drive to increase inclusion in museums. He served as past chair of the American Alliance of Museums’ Council of Professional Networks. Prior to that and as Chair of AAM’s LGBTQ+ Alliance, Lesperance helped author AAM’s LGBTQ+ Welcoming Guidelines (2015, revised 2019). Currently (2020-2026), as a member-elected Board Director of the National Association for Interpretation, he chairs the Advancement (Fundraising) Committee and serves on the Personnel, Finance, and DEAI/JEDAI Committees. Lesperance is a member of the committee revising the Certified Interpretive Planner protocol and has collaborated on several IMLS grants related to museum interpretation.

Lesperance’s teaching experience most recently includes a graduate-level course in Museum Practice at Georgetown University in the Art and Art History Department, Museum Studies (2012-2019). He has provided class lectures at Seton Hall University, The George Washington University, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Lesperance has presented at national conferences on exhibit planning, label writing, and exhibition design and is the recipient of several awards including AAM’s Excellence in Exhibition Label Writing.

Lesperance earned his BS degree from Georgetown University, with a concentration in U.S. History and Diplomacy. He earned an MA in History from the University of Virginia. His focus on the Antebellum South and U.S. slavery informed his work as an exhibit developer and interpretive planner.