Timothy Rub

Timothy F. Rub (born 1952) is an American museum director and art historian. He currently holds the position of the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the largest museums in the United States.

Biography

Timothy Rub was born in 1952 in New York, N.Y. He was raised largely in New Jersey and received a bachelor's degree in Art History from Middlebury College in Vermont. He received his master's degree in Art History from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. He also received a degree in business administration from Yale University.^[1][2]

After Yale, Rub was named a Ford Foundation Fellow and was the curator at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum from 1983 to 1987. From 1991 to 1999, he was the director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He was director of the Cincinnati Art Museum from 2000 until, in 2006, he was selected to head the Cleveland Museum of Art. While at Cleveland, he was responsible for the reinstallation of European and American art collections, and oversaw its capital project and fundraising campaign. Under his tenure, the museum completed the first phase of a seven-year 350-million dollar renovation and expansion designed by the architect Rafael Viñoly. He also developed a touring exhibitions program that sent exhibitions from the museum to Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Munich, and a number of venues in North America, and was responsible for a number of new acquisitions, including a 10th-century Chola temple sculpture of the Hindu god Shiva.^[3]

Rub was mentioned as a finalist for the same position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but took himself out of the running. On June 18, 2009, the Philadelphia Museum of Art voted unanimously to appoint him as the director, after reviewing the seventy-five applicants. Timothy Rub was chosen to replace Anne d'Harnoncourt, who died of cardiac arrest June 1, 2008, after leading the museum for twenty-six years. He will be executing the plans for a ten-year 500-million dollar expansion and renovation, designed by Frank Gehry.

Personal life

Timothy Rub specializes in architecture and modern art, and considers his passion to be early 20th Century modern art. He is married to artist and graphic designer Sally Rub, with whom he has two children. They live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Publications

The Age of the Marvelous
Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens
Jose Clemente Orozco in the United States, 1928-1934
Petra: Lost City of Stone

References

1. Carol Vogel, "The Philadelphia Museum Chooses Its New Director". New York Times, June 28, 2009. Accessed 2 October 2010.
2. John Kroll, "Timothy Rub combines low-key style with fundraising success". The Plain Dealer, June 17, 2008. Accessed 2 October 2010.
3. "Timothy Rub Elected Director and Chief Executive of Philadelphia Museum of Art. Press Release, June 29, 2009. Accessed 2 October 2010.