Dr. José H. Leal was Director of the Shell Museum between February 1996 and August 2013, and is now its Science Director and Curator. Dr. Leal received his PhD in Marine Biology and Fisheries from the University of Miami. His love for shells and sea life goes back to his childhood years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was an Assistant Editor for Sea Frontiers Magazine (Miami), a Visiting Professor at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). Dr. Leal holds honorary faculty positions at the University of Miami and Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers), where he is an affiliate member of the Coastal Watershed Institute. He is also a past president of the American Malacological Society and of Conchologists of America, a past board member of the Florida Association of Museums, an Accreditation Peer Reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums, and editor of The Nautilus. In March 2010, under his leadership, the Museum was awarded its first accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. In 2023, Dr. Leal received the prestigious Neptunea Award from Conchologists of America, for his services to the global community of shell enthusiasts.