After an international search, the Art Institute of Chicago has chosen James Rondeau, chair of the museum's department of modern and contemporary art, to replace Douglas Druick as president.

The museum's board voted Thrusday morning for Rondeau, 46, to become president and Eloise W. Martin director, beginning on Feb. 16. The announcement comes just a day after the historic bequest of $35 million from Massachusetts collector Dorothy Braude Edinburg was revealed.

Rondeau is well-regarded for shaping collections of modern and contemporary art at the museum, including the building of a new Modern Wing in 2009 and the donation of $400 million worth of art by Chicago collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson last year, adding over 40 modern and contemporary masterpiecesto the collections.

An art historian who studied at Middlebury and earned a master's degree from Williams College, Rondeau has curated a number of important exhibitions, including surveys of Charles Ray, Christopher Wool, Katharina Fritsch and, with Druick, Jasper Johns.

Druick said of the appointment: "What is significant is that indeed the area he's been in charge of has always been part of the DNA of the Art Institute. Equally important is his having an understanding and interest in the full breadth of our encyclopedic collection, particularly Asia, as is the desire to become more global in our representation of modern and contemporary art."