ROANOKE, Va. - Following a national search, the Taubman Museum of Art has appointed David Mickenberg to the post of executive director. 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 knowledge, 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.

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.

About the Taubman Museum of Art

The Taubman Museum of Art showcases American art, modern and contemporary art, design and decorative arts, folk and visionary art, and works on paper, and features a changing array of both national and international exhibitions. Tours, gallery talks, musical performances, films, family days, classes, camps, and special events are part of the museum's diverse offerings.

Designed by architect Randall Stout, the Taubman Museum of Art is a dramatic composition of flowing, layered forms in steel, patinated zinc and high-performance glass paying sculptural tribute to the famous Blue Ridge Mountains that provide Roanoke's backdrop and shape the region's spirit.

The 81,000 square foot structure houses four special exhibitions and five permanent collection galleries, a dramatic atrium, education spaces including a studio classroom and a library, a flexible theatre/programming space, a multi-purpose auditorium, an interactive gallery and art center for children, and a works on paper study room.

Norah's offers simple yet upscale dining in a sleekly contemporary café setting. The Museum Store showcases an exciting assortment of museum and exhibition-related merchandise, regional fine crafts, and unique and imaginative gifts from around the world.

The Taubman Museum of Art is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10.50 for adults, $9 for seniors, $8.50 for students, $4.50 for children ages 4-12, and free for children 3 and under.

For more information, visit www.taubmanmuseum.org or call 540-342-5760.