LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.- The Museum Leadership Institute (MLI), the premiere professional development program for decision makers in the museum field, will move to the Getty Center beginning this summer. The new venue will offer participants access to the Getty’s collections and resources. The intensive three-week executive course will take place from July 10–30, 2004, drawing 34 leaders from museums around the world.
Since 1979, the MLI (formerly known as MMI, or the Museum Management Institute) has been the leading educational forum for museum executives. Museum professionals come to enhance their leadership skills and to strengthen their institutions and operate effectively in an increasingly complex environment. Coursework includes strategic thinking, finance, negotiation, marketing, and organization behavior. The MLI’s outstanding body of alumni—over 900 museum professionals from the United States and more than 20 countries—is responsible for setting directions that shape the cultural map.
Operated by the Getty since 1984, the MLI is the flagship program of the Getty Leadership Institute. The course was previously held on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. The new venue in Los Angeles will offer participants the opportunity to study at the Getty Center’s dramatic hilltop campus, which offers areas for solitude and reflection as well as facilities that will encourage research and exchange.
Participants in this year’s MLI at the Getty Center represent organizations from across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel, including the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia; the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California; the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey; the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Canada; the Theatre Museum in the United Kingdom; the Trapholt Museum of Modern Art in Denmark; and Haifa Museums in Israel. Participants were selected based on their career progress, senior managerial responsibilities, and ability to influence policy and effect change at their institutions.
In today’s fast-changing world, the MLI equips museum directors and executives with the skills necessary to respond to new challenges in the global economy, addressing topics such as building public understanding, achieving financial stability, leading organizational change, and enhancing staff and board effectiveness. Faculty members are drawn from the top ranks of institutions offering executive education, including Dartmouth College, Duke University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Virginia. Case studies and exercises designed specifically for the MLI combine current events and trends with academic theory and best practices. Some of these cases have been incorporated into Business School curricula at Harvard and Virginia.
The MLI’s name was changed from MMI to better reflect the program’s focus on leadership issues and its influence in the field. In addition to the MLI, the Getty Leadership Institute also offers a portfolio of other professional development programs designed for administrators, curators, board members, and a variety of other museum related roles. These programs address current challenges and play a crucial role in keeping museum executives up-to-date on the most pressing issues in a constantly shifting international environment.
