Mashantucket — A senior researcher at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center has been named the dormant facility’s interim director, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe announced Tuesday. 

Closed to the public Dec. 1, the museum is scheduled to reopen in May. 

Jason Mancini, a North Stonington resident associated with the museum since 1994, is directing preparations for the museum’s reopening, the tribe said in a news release. As interim director, he will lead efforts to set a new strategic direction for the museum, including establishing an independent governing board. 

His charge will be to “redefine the museum as a premier educational and cultural destination in New England,” the tribe said. 

Mancini is an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Connecticut, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology at Connecticut College, a visiting assistant professor of history at Brown University and a social sciences instructor at the Sea Education Association. 

Founder and director of the Indian Mariners Project at the museum, Mancini is considered an expert on Indian histories since 1700. 

“Mr. Mancini’s energy and ideas, coupled with his experience both personally and professionally here at Mashantucket, in addition to the many relationships he has developed and maintained with members of this community as well as externally make him a perfect and timely fit to reorganize and lead the operational efforts of the museum,” Antonio Beltran, chief of staff for the tribe, said in a statement. 

Mancini said he was honored by the appointment. 

“The Pequot Museum and the Native histories and cultures of New England are extremely important to this region and to the nation,” he said. “I look forward to forging new relationships and building a solid foundation, so that the museum will endure for generations to come.” 

Citing a seasonal decline in attendance during the winter, the tribe announced in October that it would temporarily close to the public for the first time in its history. 

During the shutdown, officials said, the museum was to undergo maintenance and repair work that couldn’t be done while it was open. The museum and its archival collections were to remain open to researchers.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck