A former library director said naming a theater at the revamped Richard Nixon Presidential Library museum for a staffer who counted Jewish government workers at Nixon's request sends the wrong message to visitors.

Placing Fred Malek's name on the theater that shows an introductory film about Nixon is "outrageous," Timothy Naftali, a history professor at New York University and former library director, said on Twitter last week. The new theater is named for Malek and his wife.

Naftali posted the comments shortly after the Southern California museum reopened following a $15 million makeover.