The J. Paul Getty Trust announced today that art historian Mary Miller has been named the new director of the Getty Research Institute. Miller will join the institute from Yale University, where she serves as a professor of the history of art and the senior director of Yale’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. In December 2008, Miller became the first female dean of Yale College, a post that she held for nearly eight years. 

“As one of the world’s preeminent centers for cultural research, the Getty Research Institute must have a leader whose vision can encompass new practices in the study and dissemination of cultural heritage and who can foster a truly global approach to art history,” said James Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. “Dr. Miller is exactly that leader and I believe she will bring a fresh perspective to the GRI. I look forward to working with her to keep advancing our field.”

A specialist in the art of the ancient New World, Miller is currently researching the Maya city of Chichen Itza and the history of the market in pre-Hispanic art, particularly in California. Miller earned her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1981 and joined the faculty later that year. During her tenure at Yale, she served as the chair of the department of the history of art, the chair of the council on Latin American studies, the director of graduate studies in archeological studies, and a member of the steering committee of the women faculty forum. She also chaired the search committee for a new director of the Yale University Art Gallery.

A prolific author, Miller has penned a number of books, essays, and other publications, including The Spectacle of the Late Maya Court: Reflections on the Murals of Bonampak (2013); Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya (2004); and The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya (1993). She also recently contributed to two exhibitions in Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative: “Found in Translation: Design in California and Mexico, 1915–1985” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and “Golden Kingdoms: Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas” at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Miller succeeds Thomas Gaehtgens, who will retire from the Getty Research Institute later this month, and will take up the post in January 2019. Andrew Perchuk, deputy director at the Getty Research Institute, will serve as acting director until January.