TAOS, NM.-Susan Longhenry, an administrator with over 20 years of experience at major art museums in Georgia, Indiana, and Massachusetts, has been appointed Director of the University of New Mexico’s Harwood Museum of Art in Taos. She will begin her duties July 1.

“Susan was the unanimous choice of the search committee and the Board,” said Linda Warning, chair of the Harwood Museum Board of Directors. “Both by virtue of her credentials and the strength of her interview, she rose to the top of what was a very strong field of candidates.”

In her most recent position as the Alfond Director of Museum Learning and Public Programs at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Longhenry led a 27-member staff and managed a $2.8 million annual budget. Prior to that she served as the Director of Eduation and Manager of Educational Services at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Curator of Education at the Georgia Art Musuem in Athens. She has extensive experience in major gift fundraising, museum education and strategic planning, and has been professionally active in the American Association of Museums programs.

In Taos, Longhenry will succeed Deborah McLean, who has served as the Harwood Museum’s interim director since January 2008. “Deborah has done a terrific job of stabilizing the museum’s finances and operating systems in a time of transition,” said Warning. “We are enormously grateful for her service.”

Longhenry holds a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from Indiana University, and a master’s in Modern Art History, Theory and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “I’m thrilled to be joining the board, the staff, and the Harwood’s many other stakeholders on maximizing the potential of this very special museum,” she said. “I can’t wait to make the Harwood and Taos my new professional and personal home.”