ROANOKE, VA.- Following a national search, the Taubman Museum of Art announced the appointment of David Mickenberg as executive director, effective today. Mickenberg succeeds Georganne C. Bingham, who retired from the museum in May.

Mickenberg comes to the museum from the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College, where he served as the Ruth Gordon Shapiro ’37 Director from 2001-2008 and as a senior lecturer in Wellesley College’s Department of Art.

“David Mickenberg has the background, experience and vision needed to lead the museum,”said Paul Frantz, M.D., president of the Taubman Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees. “We are certain that he will successfully build upon the foundation created in this first year of the museum’s operation and move the museum forward as we work toward our goal of establishing the Taubman as a leading art museum on a national level.”

The search committee was impressed by Mickenberg’s record of accomplishments at other institutions. “David brings a caliber of curatorial experience and knoweldge, fundraising prowess, management capabilities, and relationships within the museum and art communities that will be instrumental in shaping the direction and future of the museum,” said John B. Williamson, III, co-chair of the search committee. “He is skilled at running complex institutions, and he knows what it will take to operate and manage all of the varied components that comprise the Taubman.”

At the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Mickenberg successfully completed a $10.5 million endowment campaign for programming and acquisitions, oversaw the thematic reinstallation of the collections, and significantly increased the attendance at the museum by faculty, staff, students, and the public. Under his leadership, the museum created a curatorial exchange program with the Louvre, began an international fellowship and internship program in the arts for Wellesley students, organized exhibitions that circulated nationally, and significantly enhanced and expanded the museum’s collections.

“I am extremely honored to accept the position of executive director and join the Taubman at such an exciting time,” said Mickenberg. “I believe that the potential for tremendous success exists, and I look forward to leading the institution as it continues to grow and develop into a premier museum and center for the arts.”

Prior to his tenure at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Mickenberg served as the director of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University and was a lecturer in the university’s Department of Art History from 1986-2001. While there he successfully led the capital and endowment campaign, built an award winning new museum that opened in 2000, curated numerous exhibitions that circulated to museums throughout the country, and created several on-line projects that explored how new media could be used to extend and compliment the museum experience. From 1981-1986, he served as the executive director of the Oklahoma Museum of Art.

“We are delighted to have David as our new executive director,” said Eugenia L. Taubman, chair of the museum’s capital campaign committee. “His appointment is a major step forward for the museum, and we are very excited for what lies ahead under his guidance and management,” added Taubman. The Taubman Museum of Art is named for Taubman and her husband, former Ambassador to Romania Nicholas F. Taubman.

Mickenberg’s teaching experience, in addition to the above, includes serving as an adjunct professor at the École du Louvre, as faculty for several programs at the Getty Leadership Institute, and as adjunct faculty for the School of Art Institute of Chicago.

Mickenberg is an active scholar with expertise in the areas of modern painting and printmaking and 12th century French architecture. He has authored and/or edited numerous articles, books, essays, and exhibition catalogues, and he has curated exhibitions that have been exhibited throughout this country and abroad, the last of which, The Last Expression: Art and Auschwitz, ended its tour at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2002. He has lectured extensively on subjects including international exhibitions, architecture, prints and drawings, public art, and art and academia.

Mickenberg received his B.A. in art history with honors from Colgate University and his M.A. in art history from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He also has completed coursework toward his Ph.D. at Indiana University.

Mickenberg will be responsible for an annual operating budget of $4 million and a full-time staff of 26, and he will have overall responsibility for the museum’s collections and exhibitions, education and public programs, advancement, and operations.