California State Railroad Museum
Museum Director
Ty Smith, Ph.D., is the Museum Director at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. As museum director, he is responsible for managing the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento Southern Railroad, Old Sacramento State Historic Park and the historic Southern Pacific Shops.
Smith has worked within California State Parks for the past 20 years, and joined the Museum from Hearst Castle where he was the chief of museum interpretation. He earned a Ph.D. in Public History from the University of California Santa Barbara, an M.A. in Public History from California State University Sacramento, and a B.A. in History from California Polytechnic University State University-San Luis Obispo. He also serves as a professor of Museum Studies in the Graduate Public History Program at Sacramento State.