Bill Veillette has spent countless afternoons scratching down notes in the New Hampshire Historical Society's Tuck Library. On more than a few Saturdays, he's taken his three children to the latest exhibit at the Museum of New Hampshire History.

Starting today, he'll oversee the whole enchilada.

Veillette is the new executive director of the New Hampshire Historical Society. He'll take over for Dr. Sylvio Dupuis, who has served as interim director since March.

"It's very exciting," Veillette said yesterday."I think it's a wonderful opportunity."

The former general manager of Otis Elevator's North American operations, Veillette has co-written two books on history: An Early History of New Concord, N.Y., and Amherst Historical Moments. New Concord is where he grew up; Amherst is where Veillette lives now.

He also co-founded the Heritage Commission of Amherst, serves as trustee to Historic New England and serves as treasurer for both the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and the Historical Society of New Hampshire.

Veillette's love of history and business experience bring a perfect combination to the table, according to Sherilyn Young, society president.

"He also brings a lot of energy,"Young said. "And a sense of enthusiasm and imagination."

Veillette, 44, was selected from a nationwide pool of candidates during a six-month search led by a Chicago consulting team. The society needed someone to take over from Dupuis, who was serving on a temporary basis following the departure of the former executive director, Richard Ehrlich, who left to become a private consultant.

When Veillette heard about the search, he jumped at the chance to apply.

"I was so impressed with what the society had done," he said. "I really wanted to be involved."

Veillette became a society fan soon after moving to New Hampshire in 1998. He had recently left Otis Elevator to become a private investor. Before that he had worked for the commercial real estate company Trammell Crow.

Although he had a personal interest in history, Veillette had studied business, earning an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and then an MBA from Harvard in the late 1980s. Between college and graduate school, he served with the 7th Army Training Command in West Germany.

Veillette said his interest in history comes from his dad, who compiled a genealogy of his French-Canadian family. In addition to helping his dad pen a history of their hometown in New York, Veillette always enjoyed learning about the place where he happened to be living.

When he moved to Amherst with his wife and children in 1998, his interest was particularly acute. The family had bought a circa-1785 home steeped in history. The Colonel Robert Means house was -among other things - the site of Franklin Pierce's wedding.

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