Director of University of Melbourne's Art Museum to Chair Australian Studies at Harvard for 2011-2012
Distinguished Australian art historian and director of the Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne Dr. Chris McAuliffe has been appointed to the chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University for the 2011/2012 academic year.
The appointment by the Australian nominating committee for the chair is a dual one with professor Mick Dodson, director of the Australian National University’s National Center for Indigenous Studies.
McAuliffe will be appointed to the department of art and architecture in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. It is the first appointment in Australian art history to the department in over twenty years. That appointment was Professor Patrick McCaughey, director of the University of Melbourne’s Festival of Ideas.
Chair of the Australian Nominating Committee for the Harvard Chair, Professor Graeme Davison, says that Chris McAuliffe combines an impressive record as a gallery director with first-rank scholarship. “His engaging style as a lecturer will appeal to Harvard students.”
Dr. McAuliffe has written extensively on contemporary art and its relationship with sport, popular music, suburbia and Australian culture. During his appointment, he intends to develop closer links between academic programs and university collections as well as establish a dialogue between American and Australian art. McAuliffe’s research encompasses both Australian and American art.
March 09, 2010
Art Institute of Chicago Appoints New Chief Operating Officer
The Art Institute of Chicago has appointed David Thurm as its new COO. Writes
TAXI Design Network, “Thurm, who began his tenure at the Art Institute on March 1, 2010, will oversee the museum's general operations. Thurm's duties will include the strengthening of the museum's financial position and easing its transition to a more complex institution—which the museum has now become as a result of the addition of the Modern Wing and the multiyear reinstallation project currently underway.
Thurm comes to the Art Institute after twenty-seven years at the
New York Times, serving that company in many different capacities, including vice president for real estate operations—overseeing the management and construction of Renzo Piano's New York Times headquarters building—and Chief Operating Officer of New York Times Digital. Most recently, he was the newspaper's senior vice president for operations.
Meredith Mack, the museum's former deputy director and COO, will be joining the leadership team at the Rise Group as EVP Institutional Sector as well as supporting company-wide strategic and operating initiatives.”
March 08, 2010
Smith Grants Tenure and Promotions to Two Art Professors
At its March meeting, the Smith College board of trustees approved tenure and promotion recommendations for ten faculty members. Among these, Dana Leibsohn, PP Van der Poel professor of art, was promoted to full professor. Meanwhile, Frazer Ward, in the art department, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure from assistant professor. Enrolling 2,800 students from every state and sixty other countries, Smith is the largest undergraduate women’s college in the United States.
March 08, 2010
