David Alan Robertson has announced that he will be stepping down as The Ellen Philips Katz Director of the Block Museum of Art effective Dec. 31, 2011.
Robertson has served as the director of the Block Museum and lecturer in art history at Northwestern since August 2002. In 2005 he was named The Ellen Philips Katz Director of the Block Museum. He is the current president of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) and co-chair of the AAMG’s national Task Force on University and College Museums. He is also a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Association of Museums.
Robertson will continue to pursue interests in support of academic museums on a national level upon leaving the Block Museum.
During Robertson’s tenure, the Block Museum experienced a period of energetic growth. He has strengthened engagement with the museum among faculty and students from diverse disciplines across the University and increased direct student involvement in the museum and its activities. Under his direction, the museum received accreditation from the American Association of Museums and greatly enhanced its collections. Robertson established the museum’s first Board of Advisors and more than doubled the size of its endowment and operating budget. He also has reinvigorated the Block Cinema program through well-received film series and related student programs. Robertson’s leadership has established the Block as a significant interdisciplinary study center on campus and a vital museum for the Chicago area.
A search for Robertson’s successor will be launched shortly beginning with the formation of a search committee.
www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
