Allan and Shelley Holt are generous donors to the National Air and Space Museum. A senior partner and managing director at The Carlyle Group, Allan Holt is chair of the museum’s board.
The couple’s first gift endowed the Holt Scholars program. Their most recent one will create the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery as part of the museum’s transformation campaign. This gallery will explore how new inventions shape aviation and space exploration.
What was your first involvement with the Air and Space Museum?
Early in my career I ran the aerospace investment practice at The Carlyle Group, and through my years of doing that I met many people in the industry. One day I got a call: Would I be interested in joining the board? As a big fan of the museum, I was thrilled to join. The Smithsonian is a jewel. Every city has its museums, but not one has such a broad group of museums, especially one like Air and Space.
What fuels your giving?
We are very interested in education. We started with a scholars program for sixth graders in Washington, D.C., opening up the museum to them for curated days and working on a curriculum with teachers in the region.
And the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery?
I think it is so important to revitalize the museum’s galleries. There are so many new technologies in museum display and new ways to interact with visitors. I like innovation. I like that the gallery will have exhibitions that explore new technology that one day may become reality.
What about your gift to Apollo at the Park?
Not only is 2019 the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, it is the 100th anniversary of Major League Baseball. America’s national pastime meets history’s greatest adventure. The museum thought of this wonderful idea of putting statues of Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit in 15 different ballparks. I thought it was a great idea. On July 5th, the Washington Nationals had their Apollo at the Park night at which Mark Armstrong, Neil Armstrong’s son, threw out the first pitch.
What is your favorite Smithsonian object?
The SR-71 Blackbird at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This is 1950s-1960s technology. I think about what the plane can do—its speed, its design. If we could develop something so advanced so long ago, think what we can do today.
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