Director of Harvard Art Museums To Step Down This Summer

Harvard Art Museums Director Thomas W. Lentz will step down from his position at the head of the institution on July 1, he announced Thursday, almost three months after the reopening of the Museums.

Thomas W. Lentz, director of the Harvard Art Museums, visited the Fogg Museum during its renovation in 2013. Lentz will step down from his position this summer. By Tiana A Abdulmassih

Appointed the Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums in 2003, Lentz oversaw the six-year-long renovation and integration of three of the University’s art museums, the Fogg Art Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.

The redeveloped 204,000 square-foot facility includes an expanded gallery space, public meeting areas, a cafe and gift shop, and a 300-person lecture hall in addition to rooms for teaching and research.

Lentz will remain director of the museums until July 1. In the interim, the Office of the Provost will conduct a search for Lentz’ successor.

Deborah Martin Kao, chief curator of the Harvard Art Museums, anticipated that the search will be extremely thorough and international in scope.

“[Lentz] did what no other director had been successful in doing, not only dealing with major infrastructure issues the museums were facing but also realigning the mission of the museum to the academic goals of the University,” Kao said, citing his “wonderful management style.”

“He took on a complete rethink of what the museum should be in the 21st century and created a roadmap of what the building should be,” Kao added.

While Lentz wrote in a statement that he will be taking time off after he steps down, he has not officially announced what he will be doing afterwards.

“The museums have been taken apart and put back together again to create a new kind of teaching facility that is already realizing its potential, so in large part our goal has been accomplished,” Lentz wrote.

“The future path for this institution is virtually limitless,” he wrote. “I came to Harvard thinking much of my work would be centered on infrastructure issues at our historic building at 32 Quincy Street. While that did occur, what we really pursued was something quite different: a complete re-imagining of our institution and its re-alignment with the academic mission of Harvard University.”

Prior to working at Harvard, Lentz worked at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he was the director of international art museums. He received a doctorate in fine arts from Harvard in 1985.

“[Lentz came to Harvard] with the intent to move forward on a renovation of the Harvard Art Museum facility, and that’s ultimately what he did,” Lauren M. Marshall, associate director of communications at the Harvard Art Museums, said.

“He and the Museum led a strategic planning process not just about the museum itself, but to see how it could fit into Harvard’s academic mission and the community,” she added.

Jane Pickering, executive director of the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture, described Lentz as an “incredible” supporter, friend and colleague.

“We’ll be benefitting from his work for many, many decades,” Pickering added.

—Staff writer Kristina D. Lorch can be reached at klorch@college.harvard.edu.