Spencer R. Crew received his Ph.D. from Rutgers in 1979 working with Seth Scheiner. Dr. Crew went on to a faculty position at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and then to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, where he became acting director and then director, the most prestigious public history position in the United States, for a decade. He was, on appointment, the youngest and the first African-American director of a Smithsonian museum. He was curator of several notable exhibitions, including the African-American migration in the early 20th century exhibit. In 2001 Dr. Crew was recruited to head the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, where he has literally created a new museum devoted to freedom and tolerance.