A new President for Carnegie Museums
Steven Knapp
On November 15, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh announced it has a new president: Steven Knapp, president emeritus of The George Washington University (GW) in Washington, D.C., where he is currently university professor of English. He begins his new post on February 3, 2020. Prior to joining GW, Knapp served for 11 years as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Carnegie Museums Board Chair Bill Hunt calls Knapp a “convener” and a “visionary,” and someone who immediately stood out to the 10-person search committee. “Steve is such an accomplished and thoughtful leader,” Hunt says, “and he’s a real champion of interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement.”
During his decade at GW, Knapp led the university in the development of an ambitious strategic plan that led to the creation of such interdisciplinary initiatives as the GW Cancer Center, the Global Women’s Institute, the Computational Biology Institute, and the Urban Food Task Force. He also spearheaded GW’s groundbreaking collaboration with the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the National Gallery of Art, under which the Corcoran College of Art and Design was transferred to GW to become the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. And he greatly elevated the role of research at GW by doubling the space available at the university for its science and engineering programs, and bringing together researchers across disciplines to encourage collaborative innovation.
“No city of comparable size has the wealth of cultural and educational institutions that Pittsburgh enjoys, and no institution contributes more to that richness than Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh,” Knapp says. “Each of its world-class museums is extraordinarily distinguished in its field, and I have no doubt that future increased collaborations among the museums and with the institutions surrounding them will only increase their impact, as well as their contribution to establishing Pittsburgh even more strongly as a cultural and intellectual destination. I am honored and excited to be joining this exceptional family of museums.”
“Stay as long as you’re enjoying it and, once you’re done, don’t feel guilty: leave and come back another day. Museums reward repeat visits.”
– Harry Guinness of the New York Times on getting the most out of a visit to a museum.
Top Educator Honors
Nicole Dezelon Photo: Sean Carroll
What does a soup can tell us about history? Plenty, if you’re using Andy Warhol’s art and life to get kids thinking. Nicole Dezelon, associate director of learning at The Warhol, was named the 2019 Outstanding Museum Art Educator by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association. It’s no small thanks to the innovative ways she uses Warhol’s world to expand the methods teachers and students use to work creatively across the humanities.
Fun listening to make you smarter
Catch the latest on birds, nature in art, sustainable cities, and maybe some unexpected topics, like sewage and beer, on Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s new podcast, A Is for Anthropocene: Living in the Age of Humanity. Tune into science on your favorite podcast player.
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