Hasta La Ideas

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art—where the lucky few study tuition-free inside a bold (and LEED Platinum-certified) Thom Mayne-designed building—has a new president-elect. Jamshed Bharucha, provost and senior vice president of Tufts University, will take office as the twelfth president of Cooper Union on July 1. The cognitive neuroscientist turned academic leader (and did we mention accomplished violinist?) will succeed President George Campbell Jr., who has held the top job since 2000. “Dr. Bharucha exemplifies Peter Cooper’s mandate that ‘the object of life is to do good,’” said Mark L. Epstein, chairman of Cooper Union’s Board of Trustees, in a statement issued today announcing the appointment. “A truly innovative educator, Dr. Bharucha’s interdisciplinary work combines the science of learning with a profound commitment to the advancement of the critical and creative thinking skills necessary to solve our world’s problems with dedication, ingenuity, and cultural awareness. Dr. Bharucha is the ideal person to lead The Cooper Union to new heights.”

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Taking a page from the playbook of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, which a year ago announced that Jeffrey Deitch would be exiting his various projects to come west and lead the institution, London’s financially shaky Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) has appointed veteran art dealer Gregor Muir as executive director. He succeeds Ekow Eshun, who resigned last summer. Muir has spent the past six years as director of Hauser & Wirth London, organizing gallery exhibitions in London, Zurich, and New York with artists such as Francis Picabia and Louise Bourgeois as well as emerging artists including Jakub Julian Ziolkowski, Anj Smith, and Monika Sosnowska. And he is no stranger to the museum world. He spent three years as Kramlich Curator of Contemporary Art at Tate and before that led Lux Gallery, which he founded in 1997. It was around this time that Muir curated a few exhibitions for the ICA, including “Assuming Positions” (1997) and “Liar” (1994). “He brings to the ICA many years of experience from both public and private sectors at a time when knowledge of both is so important,” said Alison Myners, chair of the ICA’s governing board, in a statement announcing the appointment. “Gregor will once again place artists at the heart of the ICA, making it a forum for new ideas and discussion, exciting audiences and restoring the ICA as a destination.” His first day on the job is February 7.

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While the American Institute of Architects gains a new leader, Architectural Record is losing one. It’s been announced that the magazine’s long-time editor-in-chief, Robert Ivy, has accepted the position of CEO and Executive Vice President of the AIA effective February 1st. Ivy had been with the magazine since 1996, as well as serving as an executive within publisher McGraw-Hill‘s Construction Media department, “overseeing the editorial quality of numerous print and online publications.” The move comes just seven months after the AIA announced that it would be leaving Architectural Record as their official magazine in favor of Architect, both of which in combination, have commenters voicing concerns about AR‘s longevity. Ivy will be taking over at the AIA and stepping into the role formerly occupied by Christine McEntee, who left this past summer for a position outside of the industry. As for the magazine now replacing Ivy, the Chicago Tribune‘s Blair Kamin reports that they will be on the hunt shortly.

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While Michigan State University is still scrambling to gather up the last remaining $6 million to pay for their Zaha Hadid-designed Eli and Edythe Broad Museum, the museum itself is moving full steam ahead with their hiring, with the news that they’ve selected Michael Rush as their first director. Rush’s previous position had been at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, which you might recall was at the center of one of last year’s most heated controversies, with the school trying to shut the museum down and sell off all its art to help pay a few bills. During that time, Rush was on the side of those against the school’s plans, which undoubtedly won him some points among the museum set. Said Rush about the new position at the new museum, which should be finished sometime in the spring of 2012, “I am honored to be joining Michigan State as the founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. This is for me an extraordinary opportunity; moreover, this new museum is a great moment in philanthropy, education and international contemporary art.” And here’s a bit from Mr. Broad himself:

“Edye and I are delighted with the selection of Michael Rush as director of the Broad Art Museum,” said Broad. “He is a principled scholar, educator and museum professional who has demonstrated an ability to work effectively with a broad public while growing the reach of arts institutions internationally. We are impressed with his leadership and are confident he will work with MSU and the Lansing community to make the museum a world-class institution.”

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Yesterday we posted the news that the Andy Warhol Museum‘s longtime director, Tom Sokolowski, had announced that he was stepping down from the role. A day later and already we now have another high-profile exit at another large institution (three this week and we get the hat trick). After 30 years at New York’s The Jewish Museum, Joan Rosenbaum has announced that she will be leaving next year at the end of June. Far less mysterious than Sokolowski’s exit (even if that just lasted a day), though occurring for largely the same reasons, it appears that Rosenbaum just decided it was time to hang up her hat. In a much longer-than-usual press release announcing her departure, the museum lays out the whole of her accomplishments while in the role, from her coming aboard in 1981 to her growing their finances to additions to their building to beefing up the collection into “one of the three finest of its kind in the world.” So we think it’s safe to say that Rosenbaum’s exit likely isn’t very acrimonious. Here’s her statement:

“I feel 30 years is a very good run for any museum director. I am now ready to take on new projects, having had the education of a lifetime at The Jewish Museum. I have learned from each new exhibition and acquisition and have gathered a world of invaluable experience from a wise and devoted Board and a brilliantly talented staff. Now is the time for a new generation to build on the success we’ve achieved together.”

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