The Getty Leadership Institute Comes to Claremont Graduate University

The Getty Foundation in Los Angeles today announced it will give a three-year, $2.2 million grant to Claremont Graduate University (CGU) to support The Getty Leadership Institute (GLI), which will move from the Getty Center to the CGU campus in January 2010. The Institute will now be known as The Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University, and will be a collaboration of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management.

“The Getty Leadership Institute has long been the leading international source of continuing professional development for museum leaders. In particular, its extraordinary flagship program, The Museum Leadership Institute, is widely recognized for its contributions to the museum field,” said Deborah Marrow, director of the Getty Foundation. “During its 25 year association with the Getty, the GLI has continually sought out new ideas and opportunities, and the move to CGU will allow the GLI to expand and thrive in the context of a very special and distinguished institution of higher education. We are delighted to work with our colleagues at CGU to ensure the continuing success of the Getty Leadership Institute.”

Said CGU Interim President Joseph Hough, “As a collaboration of the School of Arts and Humanities and the Drucker School of Management, the Getty Leadership Institute will effectively blend the curricula of both schools by combining study in the arts and humanities with contemporary management skills. It’s a very exciting prospect.”

The GLI, created in 1979 to respond to the growing complexities faced by leaders of museums and other nonprofit institutions, is a leading source of continuing professional development for current and future museum leaders. Through its programs, including the Museum Leadership Institute (MLI), the GLI provides opportunities for museum professionals, board members, academics, philanthropists, and public officials to come together to question, learn, and plan.

The MLI continues to be the foremost professional development program for senior museum executives. Participants from around the world, chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants, convene for an intensive three-week professional development program for museum decision-makers. More than 1,000 museum professionals from the United States and 20-plus countries have attended MLI and are currently responsible for setting the directions at a diverse collection of cultural organizations across the globe. Though the GLI will be housed at CGU, the MLI program will be held at the Getty Center in summer 2010.

In addition to the MLI, the GLI offers shorter programs such as Next Generation, dedicated to developing the career potential of the museum field’s most promising emerging leaders.

Prior to being housed at the Getty Center from 1999-2009, the GLI was headquartered in New York for more than two decades, and offered its programs at the University of California Berkeley.

“New technologies, shifts in philanthropic patterns, and a vigorously competitive environment challenge institutional leaders to think strategically. We’re looking forward to collaborating with our colleagues at Claremont, enhancing our current programs, and launching new programs to help museum leaders tackle emerging issues,” said Phil Nowlen, Head of the Getty Leadership Institute.

Laura Zucker, who serves as Director of CGU’s Arts Management Program, which is administered jointly by the School of Arts and Humanities and the Drucker School of Management, said, “This partnership will allow graduates to compete in a field that demands backgrounds in both business and the arts. We can blend the GLI’s experience and know-how with our curriculum in new ways to help shape the next generation of arts leaders.”.