(New York, June 11, 2004)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art today announced that the Museum's President, David E. McKinney, would retire in January 2005, soon after he reaches the age of 70.
The announcement was made by James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who reported further that the Executive Committee of the Board will serve, effective immediately, as a transition committee responsible for recommending a succession plan. The committee will also search for and evaluate candidates for President, and report back to the full board when it meets again in September. A successor will be formally named by the Museum's Board of Trustees.
Commented Mr. Houghton: "David McKinney brought a lifetime of leadership experience to his post at the Metropolitan, and to no one's surprise made enormous contributions to the institution in his six years as its chief administrative officer. His efforts to bring our technology and human resources systems into the 21st century, to improve our relations with government at the city, state, and federal levels, to stabilize our merchandising operations, and to advance vital
construction programs that maintain and enhance the building – to name a few of his accomplishments – have won him the respect and affection of the Board and the staff. We salute him for his outstanding service, and wish him the very best of luck in the future."
Added the Museum's Director and Chief Executive Officer, Philippe de Montebello: "The Met has been most loyally and effectively served by David McKinney, whose skillful and mature approach to people and problems has helped us meet many administrative challenges over the past six years. I am most grateful indeed for his devotion to the Museum, and for his resourceful and innovative work on its behalf. We shall very much miss his talents and his bonhomie."
Commented Mr. McKinney: "My years at the Met have been among the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding of my career. Having been given this unexpected but welcome opportunity, my wife Nancy and I have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of serving the greatest cultural institution in the country, and working with some of the most gifted professionals I have ever encountered. My hope is that I leave the institution in good organizational health and poised for a future every bit as brilliant as its glorious past.
"It has been a special honor," he added, "to serve under the Met's outstanding chairman, Jamie Houghton, and the greatest museum director in the world, Philippe de Montebello. I thank them for their friendship, their support, and their inspiration."
Mr. McKinney, who earlier spent 36 years of his career at IBM, rising to its executive and global leadership, came out of a brief retirement to assume the presidency of the Metropolitan Museum in 1999. As chief administrative officer,
reporting to the Director, he has been directly responsible for supervising all non-curatorial and non-educational departments of the Museum, including development, technology systems, legal affairs, finance, human resources, communications and government relations, merchandising, construction, facilities management, and security. Mr. McKinney serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees.
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