BREAKING NEWS – Salomon Aaron Identified as FHSU’s Outside Museum Adviser; Sternberg Fundraising Goal Raised to $1 Million

By Gaille Pike

Special the Hays Daily News

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) confirmed Wednesday morning that Salomon Aaron was the outside museum-transactions expert consulted regarding the Sternberg collection, while the university’s campaign must now raise $1 million by Dec. 31 to keep Sternberg Museum open another year.

“We never contracted with any consultant, but we did have a conversation about the museum market with Mr. Aaron. He helped us understand the importance of ethical deaccession and steps we would need to consider if we decided to close the museum,” Dr. Eric Grospitch, FHSU Senior Advisor for Executive Operations via email.

Grospitch stated he believes two conversations took place with Aaron, one early June and one in early September.

“Attendees were President Mason, legal counsel and myself. Again, the focus was on what we should know if we decided to close the museum to ensure we managed appropriately,” Grospitch said.

Salomon Aaron is a director at David Aaron, LTD, a London-based antique and fine art gallery, family-owned and operated through multiple generations. According to a Feb. 2026 Heni News profile, Salomon Aaron “is known for his expertise in provenance and has overseen the gallery’s expansion into the natural history market.”

The David Aaron website lists its most recent notable transaction as a 2025 sale to the Natural History Museum of London of a newly identified dinosaur species fossil. Also in 2025, the gallery sold a near-complete Camptosaurus skeleton to a “Middle Eastern Museum.” Visit davidaaron.com/notable-sales for more information.

Mr. Aaron has not yet responded to The Hays Daily News’ request for an interview.

During an Oct. 5, exclusive interview, FHSU President Tisa Mason acknowledged that she and her executive team consulted an outside museum-transactions expert before informing museum staff.

Mason said FHSU contacted an international expert after hearing him discuss museums and paleontology on a podcast. She said the university sought preliminary guidance about museum practices and what steps might be required if public operations ended, including ethical deaccessioning. Mason said the expert brokers transactions involving museums, but she did not know whether he was affiliated with an auction house. She said FHSU did not sign a contract with him or authorize him to sell anything. She could not recall his name during the interview.

“Talking to outside people seemed prudent to do,” Mason said. She said the university primarily consulted one outside expert—not several—and emphasized that museum employees’ expertise is now part of the collections review.

On Monday, Mason said neither she nor members of her executive team had spoken with an auction house.

Mason also addressed concerns about whether items from Sternberg’s collections could be sold. She declined to state unequivocally that no objects would ever be sold, saying FHSU must first complete a thorough review of what the museum has, needs and can maintain.

“Is the goal to sell things? Absolutely not,” Mason said. “Can I say that there’s never going to be anything sold? I think that would be not very wise at this point.”

Mason also said on Monday that staff members were always intended to be part of evaluating the museum’s collections and determining their future. FHSU has since met with museum employees, she said, and is working with them as the university reconsiders the museum’s operational model.

Following direction from Mason yesterday, October 6, the FHSU campaign must now raise $1 million dollars by Dec. 31 to keep Sternberg Museum open another year. Although the money would postpone closure, it would not resolve the museum’s long-term funding challenges.

“While the setback is frustrating, we are still optimistic we will be able to secure the $1,000,000 in funding needed to keep museum doors open to the public,” said Hannah Horinek-Bealby, member of Save the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. The nonprofit group is a growing volunteer effort to save the Sternberg Museum from closing in December.

Visit https://foundation.fhsu.edu/save-sternberg/ to donate to the FHSU Foundation #SaveSternberg campaign.

The FHSU Foundation is a separate nonprofit that raises and manages funds for university priorities, including several Sternberg Museum accounts. Donations designated for the museum must be used for the donor’s specified purpose, and the foundation must authorize any transfer to FHSU for salaries or other university-paid expenses. The university cannot independently take the money or redirect it to another purpose.

Additional forthcoming articles from Pike’s Oct. 5 exclusive interview with FHSU President Mason will further examine Sternberg’s finances, deferred maintenance, Mason’s efforts to find sustainable funding prior to her decision, her commitment to students and staff, and her answers to continuing community questions.