Mike Denison
Head of Design
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Mike Denison is head of design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) in Washington, DC, where he leads the museum’s exhibition design team. He is an award-winning exhibition designer with extensive experience creating visitor experiences for museums and cultural institutions.
Before joining the Smithsonian, Denison spent more than 12 years as a principal and design director at Roto, an exhibition design and build firm in Ohio. During his time there, he led master planning and exhibition design projects for science centres, children’s museums and collections museums across the US and internationally.
Denison's background is rooted in architecture and experiential design. He holds a Master of Architecture from The Ohio State University.
At NMAH, Denison has overseen design work across a wide range of exhibitions. Recent projects include In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness, the museum's first building-wide exhibition, which opened in 2026 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The exhibition features 250 objects and explores how Americans have pursued the ideals expressed in the Declaration.
Denison is also active in the wider exhibition and experiential design community, serving as an advisor to the Experiential Design Authority and contributing to professional discussions around museum exhibition design.
