The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday that Daniel H. Weiss, an innovative executive and accomplished art historian serving currently as president of Haverford College, will be the next President of the Museum.  He will succeed Emily Kernan Rafferty, who will retire from the Met on March 31 after 10 years in the post, and nearly 40 at the institution.  Dr. Weiss’ appointment was announced by Daniel Brodsky, Chairman of the Board, and Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO.

Dr. Weiss, who was formally elected to the Museum presidency at today’s regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, was chosen after an extensive national search overseen by a special committee of the board.  He will assume his new post at the Metropolitan this summer, following the end of the current semester at Haverford.

Stated Museum Chairman Brodsky: “Speaking for both our search committee and the entire Board of Trustees, I am most pleased to welcome Daniel Weiss as the next President of the Met.  The Museum is fortunate to have attracted such an accomplished, creative, and energetic leader to step into this crucial position.  Dan’s proven record in managing areas essential to making large institutions run smoothly—including his especially strong commitment to staff development and academic excellence—will, I am certain, help build for the museum an ever-more secure future.”

“We are delighted to welcome Dan Weiss as the Met’s new President,” commented Mr. Campbell.  “Dan’s experience is a rare combination of academic accomplishment in art history and vast management experience in a variety of complex institutions.  He will be an ideal partner to help us achieve our ambitious goals for the Met over the next decade, and I look forward to introducing him to our dedicated staff, volunteers, donors, and visitors.”

Commented Dr. Weiss: “It is an honor and privilege to be joining this extraordinary museum at such a special time in its history.  I look forward to working closely with Tom Campbell and my new colleagues as we implement the new strategic plan, open the Breuer building, and develop exciting new programs in the years ahead.  As a lifelong visitor to the Met I am especially pleased to be joining such an exceptional team.”

In his new role, Dr. Weiss will serve as chief operating officer of the Museum, reporting to Director and CEO Campbell and serving as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.  As President, he will have direct leadership responsibility for all day-to-day operations of the institution, and will oversee 1,500 employees in all areas of museum administration: facilities and construction, development and membership, finance and investments, information technology, legal affairs, visitor services, human resources, marketing and external relations, merchandising (the Met shops), and government relations.  The Museum currently has more than 2,200 full- and part-time employees overall, an operating budget of more than $300 million, and an endowment of approximately $3 billion.  Last year, the Museum attracted 6.2 million visitors to its main building and The Cloisters, and more than 40 million visits to its website.

The Board search committee for presidential selection included: Daniel Brodsky, chairman; Candace K. Beinecke, Russell L. Carson, Richard L. Chilton, Jr., Blair Effron, Jeffrey W. Greenberg, Hamilton E. James, Bonnie Sacerdote, Andrew M. Saul, Lulu C. Wang, and Shelby White, with Henry B. Schacht serving in an advisory capacity and Director Thomas P. Campbell ex officio.

Mr. Brodsky and Mr. Campbell joined in expressing their deep appreciation to outgoing President Emily Rafferty, who assumed the Museum presidency on January 15, 2005: “To the entire staff of this institution—from curators and administrators to guards and maintainers—Emily Rafferty has been not only a highly effective leader, but a beloved champion of the institution and of its greatest asset: the men and women who work here.  By rising in the ranks over a career spanning four decades, she became and remains a symbol of the opportunity that awaits all the gifted and committed individuals who might launch careers of their own here in the future.  Emily has been a remarkable president, colleague, and friend, and we thank her profoundly for her truly historic service to the Met.” Chairman Brodsky and Director Campbell announced that in an unprecedented move, the Board has named Ms. Rafferty President Emerita, effective April 1.

Daniel Weiss 

Daniel H. Weiss, who was born in Newark, N.J., and raised on Long Island, earned his B.A. in psychology with a concentration in art history at George Washington University in 1979; his M.A. with concentrations in Medieval and Modern Art from Johns Hopkins University in 1982; his M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management in 1985; and in 1992 his Ph.D. from Hopkins, with concentrations in Western Medieval and Byzantine Art and a minor in Classical Greek Art and Architecture.

He began his career as museum shops manager at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, and later served as an associate, then a senior associate, at Booz, Allen & Hamilton in New York.

After earning his Ph.D., Dr. Weiss became an assistant professor of art history at Johns Hopkins’ Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, rising over a decade-long academic career there to associate professor (1996), full professor (1999), chair of the History of Art Department (1998-2001), and Dean of the Faculty (2001-2002).  From 2002-2005 Dr. Weiss was James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, overseeing 2,700 undergraduates, 1,500 graduate students, and 300 faculty in 23 departments.

From 2005-2013 Dr. Weiss served as President and Professor of Art History at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he worked to increase the size of the permanent faculty by more than 10%, developed revised curricula, introduced new interdisciplinary programs, and created innovative  alliances with the city of Easton.  During his tenure, Lafayette became the only college in the nation to receive a collaborative grant from the NEA under its Urban Arts initiative program.

In 2013, Dr. Weiss became president of Haverford, where he has worked to maintain the school’s nearly 200-year-long commitment to a student-centered and ethical learning environment. During his tenure, Dr. Weiss led the effort to prepare a comprehensive strategic plan, and secure the funds to support new interdisciplinary initiatives and major renovations to the library, new facilities for biology, psychology, and music, as well as a new center for visual culture, arts, and media. A professor of Independent College Programs and an affiliated professor in the history of art at Bryn Mawr College, Dr. Weiss has taught courses on liberal arts colleges and the history of art.

During his academic career, Dr. Weiss has published widely, delivered many public lectures, organized and served on conferences and symposia, and earned a number of fellowships and grants.  He was, for example, a Junior Fellow at Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies in 1991-92, an NEH fellow in 1996, and the recipient of a College Art Association Millard Meiss publication subsidy for his 1998 book, Art and Crusade in the Age of Saint Louis (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Dr. Weiss’ other book is Die Kreuzritterbibel / The Morgan Crusader Bible / La Bible des Croisades (produced in German, English and French, Faksimile Verlag Luzern), and its Italian translation, La Bibbia dei Crociati (Rome: Salerno Editrice, 1999).  He has also co-edited three books: Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts College (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013); France and the Holy Land: Frankish Culture at the End of the Crusades (Hopkins, 2004); and The Book of Kings: Art, War, and the Morgan Library’s Medieval Picture Bible (Third Millennium Publishing, 2002).

He has also written articles, essays, and reviews for such publications as Art Medievale, Modern Language Notes, Art Bulletin, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and Jewish Art, has contributed several chapters to books, and has authored pieces on leadership and civic affairs for newspapers and education magazines.  With Marcus Sullivan, he is currently at work on the book Gentle Hero: Michael O’Donnell, Vietnam, and America in the 1960s.

Dr. Weiss’ many awards include: an honorary degree in 2013 from Lafayette College; the 2011 Martin Zippel Award from the Boys & Girls Club of Easton for outstanding service to children and community; a 2011 Community Development Award from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce; a 2006 Aaron O. Hoff People’s Choice Award from Lafayette College; the George E. Owen Teaching Award presented by the 2003 Johns Hopkins senior class; and the Medieval Academy of America’s 1994 Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize for the outstanding first article in the field of Medieval studies.

Dr. Weiss currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Council for Library and Information Resources, and the Shipley School.  He has served previously as a board member of the Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, the Park School of Baltimore, and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Weiss, who plans on relocating to New York City, is married to Sandra Jarva Weiss, an attorney specializing in health-care law and a member of the firm Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus. They have two sons, Teddy, who is a high school senior at the Lawrenceville School, and Joel, a sophomore at Shipley.