NEW YORK, NY.- Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, today announced four major senior staff appointments: Carrie Rebora Barratt as Associate Director for Collections and Administration; Keith Christiansen as John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings; Sheila R. Canby as Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art; and Peggy Fogelman as Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education.

The four were formally elected at today’s meeting of the Museum’s Board of Trustees.

“I am extremely pleased to announce these appointments,” Mr. Campbell said, “all of whom bring profound experience, outstanding creativity and judgment, and the respect of their colleagues to their new responsibilities. Working together with our strong Board and management, and with our superb staff, Carrie Rebora Barratt, Keith Christiansen, Sheila R. Canby, and Peggy Fogelman will play key roles in furthering the Museum’s goals of upholding the institution’s excellence and vibrancy, and of constantly enriching our visitors’ engagement with art.”

He continued, “Despite the challenging times in which we live, this extraordinary and encyclopedic museum maintains all of its power to awe and inspire, to teach and to enlighten. We are charged with preserving these strengths and building on them for the next generations. I look forward to the exciting teamwork ahead, as I welcome these four top professionals into their new positions and as we continue to work together to further our mission into the next decades of the 21st century.”

Carrie Rebora Barratt, who becomes Associate Director for Collections and Administration, has worked at the Metropolitan Museum since 1984, most recently as Curator in the Department of American Paintings and Sculpture, and Manager of The Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art.

Keith Christiansen, the newly named John Pope-Hennessy Chairman of European Paintings, has been a member of the Museum’s curatorial staff since 1977, and has held the title of Jayne Wrightsman Curator of European Paintings since 1989.

Both of these appointments are effective immediately.

Sheila R. Canby will join the Metropolitan as the Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge of the Museum’s Department of Islamic Art on October 26, 2009. She is currently Curator of Islamic Art and Antiquities at The British Museum, London.

And Peggy Fogelman will become the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education, also effective October 26. She now holds the position of Director of Education and Interpretation at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.