Ex-Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch named executive director of Discovery Museum

Former Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch has been named executive director of the Discovery Museum in the city. He replaces Stephen H. Baumann, who retired in September after three years on the job.

bill finch discovery museum — Bill Finch

The museum at 4450 Park Ave. was founded in 1958 and opened to the public in 1962. In addition to serving as executive director, Finch will retain his job as a climate fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York.

Finch served as Bridgeport”™s mayor from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, he lost the Democratic nomination to former Mayor Joe Ganim and later failed to get on the ballot as a candidate of the Job Creation Party. Following his election loss, Finch crossed the border to serve as acting executive director of the New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corp.

“Having Bill Finch serve as our new executive director would be a big win for the museum,” said Alexandra Cannon, who serves as the acting executive director since September. “He”™s had a long relationship with the museum that dates back to him visiting as a child, and now he regularly brings his kids to the museum. His ties locally, at the state level, in New York, and nationally position him well to take the museum to the next level.”