Top Photo: Founding President & CEO Emeritus Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller raises his glass as National WWII Museum Trustees, staff, friends, and guests toast to his years of leadership.

On June 27, 2024, National WWII Museum Trustees, staff, friends, and other guests gathered to celebrate Founding President & CEO Emeritus Dr. Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller’s three decades of leadership and accomplishments, as he devotes more time to family and personal endeavors.

“Congratulations to Nick on this well-deserved transition. He shaped the Museum into the world-class institution it is today, and it’s been a privilege to work alongside him,” said Museum President & CEO Stephen J. Watson. “Nick has been a strong advocate for our Museum, our city, and our state, as well as the legacy of the WWII generation.”

Mueller was first approached in 1989 by his friend and colleague Stephen Ambrose, PhD, about creating a D-Day museum in New Orleans. Though neither had experience working in museums, the University of New Orleans professors were resolved to tell the story of the war that changed the world. From that humble beginning, Mueller diligently worked alongside his friend to make this vision a reality, becoming a founding member of The National D-Day Museum Board. In 1998, Mueller was asked to serve as Chairman of the Board and lead the effort to raise funds, complete the construction, and finally open The National D-Day Museum on June 6, 2000.

A few months after the opening, Mueller became the Museum’s first President & CEO, a title he would hold for the next 17 years as the institution transformed. He led efforts to expand the Museum’s mission and develop an ambitious Master Plan while securing congressional designation as America’s National WWII Museum in 2004. He dramatically expanded the Museum’s campus, developed countless educational programs, and established the Museum as one of our nation’s top cultural institutions.

Crucially, Mueller worked to develop the design and content of Liberation Pavilion’s two floors of exhibits and third-floor Freedom Theater. Liberation Pavilion, which opened in November 2023 to fulfill the Museum’s campus Master Plan, reflects a key part of the Museum’s mission—what World War II means today—and tells a more complete story of the American experience in the war.

Thanks to Mueller’s steadfast commitment, these accomplishments extend far beyond what he and Ambrose initially set out to do while still keeping the legacy of the WWII generation at the forefront. As a testament to their service and sacrifice, the Museum is able to carry on their stories for future generations and ensure that their place in history is never forgotten. As time passes and firsthand memories of the war start to disappear, the Museum remains committed to paying tribute to the men and women who secured our freedom.

In 2017, Mueller stepped into his role as Founding President & CEO Emeritus and has continued to play an important part in advancing the Museum’s educational mission. He has been a featured speaker on numerous educational travel tours, conferences and symposia, and helped establish and grow the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy.

In recent years, Mueller has focused on documenting the history of both World War II and the Museum, including writing two books. Everything We Have, published in honor of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, tells the American story of the landings through firsthand accounts, images, and artifacts from the Museum’s collections. Building The National WWII Museum, published in 2023, commemorates the Museum’s transformation and conclusion of the nearly two-decade Road to Victory Capital Campaign, which allowed the Museum to quadruple the size of the original campus and raise endowment funding to sustain educational programs, research endeavors, collections, and exhibits.

Mueller’s next book, An Unlikely Story: The History of The National WWII Museum, 1990–2023, will provide a more complete history of the Museum. The project will be published in 2025, in conjunction with the Museum’s 25th anniversary celebration.