MEET OUR CATALYST THEA AWARD RECIPIENT

Chevy Humphrey  
President and CEO 
Museum of Science and Industry-Chicago 
 
The Catalyst Award 
 
Biography 
Chevy Humphrey is a corporate board director, business executive, science educator, and globally recognized industry leader. Humphrey is the first woman and first Black American to lead the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI), the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere. 
 
In 2005, Humphrey became the first Black American named to lead a science center in the United States when she became CEO of Arizona Science Center where she served for 15 years. During her tenure at ASC, Humphrey adopted best practices from business to create a robust and thriving community-serving 
organization. Under Humphrey’s leadership, Arizona Science Center’s assets increased by more than $40M, and programming expanded dramatically. At the same time, Humphrey formed an equity-forward organizational culture through a transparent, inclusive, collaborative, and highly communicative team that values accountability, urban and rural community relationships, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit, while working in partnership with the Board of Trustees and the community. 
 
Humphrey serves as Director and Chair of the Compensation Committee for Grand Canyon Education, Inc., a $3B market cap education services company that provides a full array of services in the post-secondary education market (NASDAQ: LOPE). Humphrey brings to GCE her wealth of experience in science and technology education, board governance, community and public private partnerships and building an inclusive culture and entrepreneurial environment. 
 
Humphrey is a member of the Board of Governors for the Argonne National Laboratory, a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by U-Chicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. She also currently serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, Choose Chicago, Education Forward Arizona, Helios Education Foundation, and she serves as the Chair of the Board of the American Alliance of Museums, the largest museum alliance serving more than 35,000 members globally. 
 
Humphrey has been recognized widely as a compassionate business leader and innovator. The Phoenix Business Journal named Humphrey one of its Most Admired CEOs, and she was their first awardee in 2017 as its Mentor of the Year. She has been named a Visionary Leader by the Women’s National 
Basketball Association and is an ATHENA award recipient from the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. 
 
Humphrey received an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology degree from the University of Advancing Technology. She earned an MBA from Northeastern University, with specializations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship and Innovation and earned her BS degree in Marketing from the University of Phoenix. Humphrey has attended advanced management courses at The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Yale University School of Management. She is pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University. 
 
Proudest Career Moment:  

• Becoming the first Black American President and CEO in a science center in the United States. 
  

 
Fun Fact about Chevy: 

• I love interior decorating homes. 
  

 
Favorite Part about your job?  

• Mentoring and empowering my team members to achieve and reach their personal and professional goals. 
  

 
Learn a little more about Chevy: https://www.nbcchicago.com/top-videos-home/museum-of-science-and-industry-ceo-paves-way-for-women-leaders/2453033/  ​