The USS Hornet announced that the floating museum has hired its first female executive director in the person of Jill Knowland Rapposelli. She will lead museum operations, educational programs and the ship’s capital campaign. A Piedmont resident, Rapposelli lives in Piedmont. She comes to the Hornet from Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center where she served as Chief Operating Officer for 10 years.
“We’ve picked up some impressive people over the years but Jill might be our most impressive catch yet,” said Ray Fortney, chairman of the board of trustees for the aircraft carrier, a National Historic Landmark known for its role as the ship that recovered the Apollo 11 astronauts from the Pacific Ocean following man’s first to walk on the moon in 1969. 
Rapposelli officially came aboard the Hornet on Nov. 2.