Science World CEO Bryan Tisdall retires after almost two decades

After almost 19 years at the helm, Science World CEO Bryan Tisdall retired with a bang.

A Wednesday (June 22) ceremony at the facility saw Science World’s traditionally kid-friendly space transformed into a more adult venue, with an open bar and several tables of high-end catering.

Speakers—family, friends, and colleagues—took playful jabs at Tisdall, with some of them tearing up on the stand as they gave their farewells.

As the ceremony drew to a close, staff brought out four coloured balloons—representing the coloured plaques Science World employees receive for every five years of service—filled with hydrogen gas. With a long lit taper in hand, Tisdall touched off the balloons with an explosive boom, accompanying each with a story from his decades at the science centre.

Earlier, Tisdall talked with the Georgia Straight in his office. Outside the window, the iconic silver sphere dominated the view.

“The intent was never to stay for almost nineteen years at the job,” he explained. “It was four or five years and then on to the next one.”

But the job was so rewarding and the community so supportive that, as Tisdall put it, “one year led to the next, led to the next, and here we are this much longer.”

Following its founding, the not-for-profit organization—after what Tisdall termed a "wonderful" first decade—encountered serious economic problems. Tisdall, who joined Science World in 1997, entered in the midst of financial turmoil.

“Exhibits were breaking, programs were getting tired and not getting replaced or refreshed, [and] the building itself was springing leaks,” he said. The start of his career, Tisdall noted, involved him simply trying to turn the tide.

But after years of chasing partnerships and, reluctantly, government support, the facility finally narrowed the gap between expenditures and revenue. Today, despite being a nonprofit, Science World relies on government for less than one percent of its operating budget.

Visitor engagement, however, is a constant problem, one that Tisdall described as walking the line between "enjoyable and substantive".

“If we talk about nuclear physics or quantum mechanics, that may not grab you,” Tisdall explained. “But if we talk about why your cellphone is working or how video games are developed or why people playing football get concussions or how Jimi Hendrix plays the guitar, it’s all science and technology.

“You have to be engaged and it has to matter to you,” he added. “We’re not [a] public school, and we’re not Playland. We’re somewhere in the middle.”

This may be his last job, but Tisdall maintained that he will continue to be involved in Vancouver's not-for-profit community. “I’m not retiring from life,” he joked.

Tisdall’s final science-education initiative, Wonder, is a crowd-funded "early learners" gallery for kids up to the age of five. With a week to go, the fund is about $2,000 short of its $25,000 goal.