About Tim & Michele
Tim Morgan retired in June 2005, after 35 years teaching history at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Born and raised in Chicago’s southern suburbs, he earned his Ph. D. in early American history from The College of William and Mary in 1976. After retirement, he became interested in beads, gemstones, rough, and specimens. Serving as exhibits director and museum director for the Bead Museum in Washington DC from 2006 until its closure at the end of 2008, he designed and installed exhibits such as Treasures of the Earth,which showed how humans have transformed minerals into gemstones and pieces of jewelry. He is a member of the DC Gemological Institute of America Alumni Association (serving as acting treasurer), the Bead Society of Greater Washington (on the board as a director), the Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society Chapter of Montgomery County, Maryland, and the Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society Chapter of DC. He is currently working on an article about the color change garnets and a book on Peruvian gemstones in collaboration with Sara Goryn, Lee Horowitz, Michele McMurtry, and Marcel Ryzenberg.
Left to right-Tim, Hannah, Marcel, Michele, and Lee in Lima, Peru, learning about the city and its history.
Michele McMurtry retired in January 2007 from the National Transportation Safety Board after 35 years working in transportation safety. Raised in Lexington, Kentucky, she graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1971. Before retirement she became interested in beads, gemstones, rough, and specimens, and making jewelry. She has sold jewelry at the Bead Museum and at shows in the DC area. She is treasurer of the Bead Society of Greater Washington, a member of the DC and Montgomery County Chapters of the Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society and a member of the DCGIA Alumni Association Chapter. She spoke to the DC GLM Chapter in June 2008 about her experiences in Istanbul, Turkey, attending the November 2007 international bead conference.
Michele and Tim married in September 1993 and live in Montgomery County, Maryland.