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Wednesday, May 23, 2001
Ex-Director Proud of Museum
By Katie Burford
Journal Staff Writer
It's been said that people who are adept at getting an organization started are not necessarily the best people to run it.
Jon Callender would agree.
In 1984, Callender was named director of Albuquerque's Museum of Natural History, which opened in January 1986. He came to the position with standout credentials that included a doctorate in geology from Harvard. He also had served as assistant chairman of the geology department at the University of New Mexico.
During his tenure at the museum, he was credited with bringing top-notch exhibits. Publicly, he was viewed as inspired and charismatic.
Internally, though, his underlings said he was abrasive and vindictive, and he broke the rules.
These two images of Callender collided in February 1990, when 10 employees wrote a letter charging him with improprieties, including working too closely with the museum foundation. They called for his resignation.
Callender was placed on administrative leave but resigned before it expired.
A state audit found that the museum disregarded the state's anti-donation clause by depositing public money in its private foundation accounts. Callender was not named in the report.
As the controversy unfolded, his supporters said he was just trying to cut through red tape. His opponents accused him of managing like a tyrant.
Today, Callender, who lives in Coppertown, Utah, and is vice president for resource development at Kennecott Development Co., says it was time for him to go.
"I'm better at starting up than maintaining," he said. "I got to a place in my career ... I wasn't, as they say, keeping my eye on the ball. ... It was really time to get someone new."
His work now is to design a master planned community called Sunrise. It will take 30 years to build and will cover 4,200 acres on the edge of South Jordan, a Salt Lake City suburb.
He first became involved with Kennecott while working as a geology consultant in Denver, where he moved after leaving Albuquerque. Eventually, he moved to Utah and continued to advise the company on its $300 million copper mine cleanup. Kennecott operates Bingham Canyon Mine, the largest open pit mine in the United States.
Callender started working on Sunrise early this year.
As for the controversy that preceded his resignation from the museum, he says it's water under the bridge.
"That was a long time ago."
He's glad he got to midwife the museum's birth.
"I still feel very good about the whole experience," he said. "(The museum) is a gorgeous place. I feel very proud of that."