AN ANALYSIS OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS, 1990-2010

This investigation is to give the reader a better understanding of the role of the museum director over time. First, a typology of museum directors in the United States is developed and presented. This study then examines specific characteristics of executive directors of art museums from 1990 to 2010 with the purpose of discovering any unifying trends focusing on age, tenure, sex, and education. Data was collected in 2011 focusing on five-year intervals from 1990 to 2010 for 177 art museums. The results and trends that emerge are discussed with their implications for the museum world.