Friends of Balboa Park

John Bolthouse is the Executive Director of Friends of Balboa Park, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Balboa Park’s rich heritage, improving access, laying the foundation for a sustainable future, and advocating for community support.
Before joining Friends in January 2016, Bolthouse was Executive Director of The Water Conservation Garden, a nonprofit botanical and demonstration garden in El Cajon, California. Prior to his tenure at The Garden, Bolthouse served as Executive Director of the La Jolla Historical Society; Chief Operating Officer, Curator and Archivist of the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park; and positions at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. Bolthouse has served on the board of directors of the San Diego Museum Council and is a Peer Reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums.
Bolthouse graduated from the University of Louisiana, Monroe with a BS in Air Transportation & Aviation Sciences and a minor in History, and earned his MA in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from the University of San Diego.