The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has received a gift of $1 million from Keith Coulter and the B. Paul Moser Trust, with $900,000 specifically designated for master planning costs and $100,000 to support the astronomy program over the next several years.
Coulter’s donation coupled with the support of several museum trustees and friends brings the total raised for the museum’s master planning to more than $2 million.
As trustee of the B. Paul Moser Trust, Coulter supported the museum’s education programs for more than 15 years. He directed more than $150,000 towards numerous museum activities, including astronomy education programs for schoolchildren, general operations of the Ty Warner Sea Center, and most recently to support the restoration of the blue whale skeleton.
He and Museum Executive Director Karl Hutterer spoke frequently about the vision for a new museum that would better serve the community. Coulter understood the challenge of raising the money needed to fund the preliminary planning of a new Museum and decided in January to make a leadership gift to help support the planning efforts.
Coulter, who recently died, and his wife, Rica, have been staples of the museum family and of the Santa Barbara community for several decades. As a retired naval officer and electrical engineer, his knowledge was vast, and he had an unmatched passion for learning. This passion for learning inspired his generosity through the B. Paul Moser Trust, which was often focused on providing educational opportunities through numerous and varied local nonprofit organizations.
— Easter Moorman is the marketing and public relations manager for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.