The C.E.O. Teaching Future Generations About 9/11

On Sept. 11, 2001, Elizabeth L. Hillman had the same reaction as many to the horror she saw unfold on television. “I wondered what I should do next, like a lot of people,” she said.

The former Air Force officer, then in Philadelphia, had just taken a job as a law professor. She worked her way through academia, eventually becoming president of Mills College. After leading a merger between Mills and Northeastern University in 2022, she was looking for her next role, which led back to 9/11.

The position of chief executive of the 9/11 Memorial Museum opened up, and Ms. Hillman, a military historian, had taught about 9/11 in classes. It was a natural fit: In late 2022, she became the C.E.O. of the museum.

“It’s the kind of thing that had such powerful resonance and has so many layers that I could spend a lifetime trying to understand it,” Ms. Hillman, 58, said. “The museum is dedicated to that.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/business/9-11-museum-elizabeth-hillman.html