History is being made at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Chevy Humphrey will be the first woman and the first Black American to be president and CEO of the museum.

But she’s coming in at a time when keeping Chicagoans immersed in the museum experience, during a pandemic, is rife with challenges.

“My first business trip [with the Arizona Science Center] was at the Museum of Science and Industry at Chicago to see the Titanic exhibition. When I walked in I was literally amazed; I was in awe,” Humphrey said. “I told my then-boss, ‘You know what? I’m going to work here one day.’ And she said to me, ‘Well you have to get your job done in Arizona first.’”

Humphrey did her job in Arizona, growing the museum’s assets from $3 million to $42 million and tripling the number of visitors. She’ll have a new set of challenges when she starts her new job at MSI in January.

Humphrey said she hopes to build a strong relationship with the community; the Arizona Science Center works with every county in the state. In Illinois, she plans to listen to everyone, from civic- and business-minded people to educators to students. In particular, she wants to ensure young people have opportunities to break through in the field of science.

“I set out on the course of, I had a dream that I was going to achieve and I worked really hard, but at the end of the day it takes others and people to believe in you,” Humphrey said. “It takes others to help you get to that next level and I hope in my role at MSI I can do that for other young women, other young Brown and Black people and young people as a whole.”