CHADDS FORD, PA.- The Board of Trustees of the Brandywine Conservancy announced the appointment of Virginia A. Logan as the next executive director of the organization. Ms. Logan will assume the position upon the retirement of the current executive director, James H. Duff, on December 31, 2011.

Ms. Logan will take leadership of the Brandywine Conservancy, founded in 1967, as the organization prepares to move forward with the next phase of its important work in preserving the region's natural and cultural legacy.

"I am honored to become Executive Director of the Brandywine Conservancy, which is one of the region's most significant stewards of art, culture and the environment," said Ms. Logan. "The Brandywine River Museum's unparalleled collections, exhibitions, and programs are widely admired. Through its Environmental Management Center, the Conservancy has done tremendous work in open space preservation , advocating for responsible land use and preservation of water quality. Working together with its accomplished staff, I look forward to building on the Conservancy's many strengths as we begin a new chapter in its history."

Ms. Logan brings to the Brandywine Conservancy business acumen and leadership skills sharpened in both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. Her executive experience in the nonprofit sector includes nearly a decade on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale (PBCC). During her seven years as chairman of the board, Ms. Logan led the 40 year-old organization through a key period of strategic planning which prepared the PBCC for a new phase of growth.

During her 25-year career at Sunoco, Inc., a Fortune 100 company, Ms. Logan held a variety of roles most recently managing a public affairs organization that included communications, corporate philanthropy, government affairs, and community relations. Prior long-term roles were leading operations with profit and loss responsibility for a large segment of the company's retail marketing business and overseeing a commercial law practice group.

Commenting on Ms. Logan's qualifications and background, George A. Weymouth, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brandywine Conservancy said, "We had an extensive search for Mr. Duff's successor. Ms. Logan brings a unique set of skills to the Brandywine Conservancy. We are very fortunate to have found an individual with Ms. Logan's varied experience as our next leader."

Ms. Logan, a Rosemont, Penn., resident, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lafayette College and a Juris Doctor degree from the Villanova University School of Law.

The Brandywine Conservancy began in 1967 to protect from industrial development two parcels of land in the historic village of Chadds Ford. It has developed a variety of innovative programs to conserve the natural and cultural resources of the Brandywine watershed and other selected areas with a primary emphasis on water quality and quantity. Through its Environmental Management Center, it provides assistance to local governments in pursuit of these goals. The Conservancy has preserved-through conservation easements and other methods-more than 44,000 acres. It owns and manages more than 2,600 acres in Pennsylvania and Delaware that include many historic properties and structures.

The Conservancy's Brandywine River Museum opened in 1972 in a renovated Civil War-era grist mill. The museum features a renowned collection of American art-with primary emphasis on the Brandywine region, American illustration, landscape and still life work. The museum also owns and conducts public programs at the N. C. Wyeth studio and house (with approximately 9,000 objects that aid interpretation of that site) as well as the Kuerner Farm, which inspired nearly 1,000 works of art by Andrew Wyeth.