NEW YORK, NY.- Robert M. Baylis, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Rubin Museum announced today that the Trustees have made several new appointments to the museum’s leadership and board.

Patrick Sears, who previously served as the Rubin Museum’s Deputy Director, has been appointed Executive Director. He will lead the museum in the expansion of its programming and audience engagement in support of its mission to explore the art and culture of Himalayan Asia.

The new position of Director of Museum Services and Operations will be held by Linda Dunne, who will join the museum on July 9th. Dunne will be responsible for the oversight of a significant portion of the museum’s operations, staff, and budget, including the continued development of Serai, the Rubin Museum’s new shop and café experience.

Four new trustees will also join the museum’s board. They are Gavin R. Berger, Richard Lanier, Matthew Nimetz, and Rasika Reddy.

These new appointments advance the realignment of leadership roles and responsibilities at the Rubin Museum, a transition that was launched by its founders, Shelley and Donald Rubin, last October to ensure the stability and growth of the museum beyond their tenures. The transition is supported by their $25 million gift announced late last year to help fund operations, exhibitions and programs over the next five years as the museum continues its initiatives to diversify its leadership and broaden its funding base.

“As the Rubin Museum approaches its 10th anniversary in 2014, we are setting the course for continued success. The expansion of our leadership team enhances our ability to serve the diverse needs of our members, supporters, and audiences, and develop new ways to bring the art and culture of Himalayan Asia to life for our community,” said Baylis. “In less than 10 years, we have welcomed more than 1 million visitors to the Rubin and are looking forward to further expanding the museum’s offerings through a strategic building of our internal capacity.”

The only museum in the U.S. dedicated to the arts of Himalayan Asia, the Rubin holds one of the world’s most important collections of paintings and sculptures of Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, and Bhutan. Mr. and Ms. Rubin first conceived of the Rubin Museum in 1998 and it opened its 70,000-square-foot home on 17th Street in 2004. The Rubin Museum recently opened a 5,000-square foot education center where it serves visitors of all ages with innovative programs that extend the gallery experience.

The Rubin Museum has mounted more than 60 exhibitions and published 20 catalogs, many of which have been based on groundbreaking scholarship. It has outstanding educational and public programs that encompass lectures, cross-disciplinary dialogues such as the Brainwave series, films, performances, art-making workshops, Pre-K-12, college and university programs and more, offering multiple entry-points for understanding and enjoying the art of the Himalayas.

Patrick Sears
Patrick Sears has been in the field of art museums for over 30 years serving for the past nine years at the Rubin Museum in several positions, most recently as Deputy Director. An alumnus of the North Carolina State University School of Design, he trained in architecture and design, and took dual professional degrees in Product and Visual Design. At the North Carolina Museum of Art and then the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, he was responsible for all design efforts including major new construction and renovations of each of those facilities. He retired from the Smithsonian Institution, as Associate Director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and joined the Rubin Museum of Art staff in 2003.

Linda Dunne
Linda Dunne has served at the American Folk Art Museum for the last ten years in a variety of leadership roles, mostly recently as the Acting Director, 2011-2012. During her tenure, she supervised and participated in all administrative, financial, personnel, and facilities management and was responsible for policy development issues, including those related to exhibitions and collections management. She also managed the American Folk Art Museum’s two shops and café and supervised the renovation of a 10,000 square foot off-site collections storage facility. Prior to joining the American Folk Art Museum, Linda served as Deputy Director at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1998-2002. She has more than 30 years of experience in the field.

Gavin R. Berger
Gavin Berger is Director of Business Development for Yorke Construction in New York. Prior to joining Yorke, he was responsible for stabilizing the Big Apple Circus and facilitating its transition to a new leadership team. He was previously Vice President of Events and Promotions for Meadowlands Xanadu, Director of Concert Halls at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and an independent consultant advising Bowery Presents, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Arlington Cultural Center, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and the Walton Arts Center at UCLA. He serves on the boards of Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, Page 73, and Keigwin & Company.

Richard Lanier
Richard Lanier is a founding trustee and president of the Asian Cultural Council, a grant-making foundation established by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963 that supports cultural exchange between Asia and the United States. He is also a founding trustee of the Trust for Mutual Understanding, which funds cultural and environmental exchanges between the United States, Russia, and other Eastern and Central European countries. He has served on the State Department’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee, is an Honorary Life Trustee of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, a Director of the Japan Society, a trustee of the Resource Center for Cultural Engagement, The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, the Urasenke Tea Ceremony Center, and a member of the Asian Art Visiting Committee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Matthew Nimetz
Matthew Nimetz is an Advisory Director of General Atlantic LLC, where he previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director for 12 years. He also serves as the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in connection with the negotiations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Before joining General Atlantic, Nimetz was a partner and former chair of the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City. He had previously practiced law as an associate and partner of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He served as Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology and as a Counselor of the Department of State under President Jimmy Carter and earlier on the White House staff of President Lyndon Johnson. He is on the board of several nonprofit organizations and universities. He received degrees from Williams College, Harvard Law School and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Rasika Reddy
Rasika Reddy is a visual artist based in Summit, New Jersey and New York City. Born in Hyderabad India, Rasika earned her BSc at Osmania University and her MA in Philosophy at Central University of Hyderabad before returning to school to earn a BA in Fine Arts at the West Surrey School of Art and Design in England. She lived in England for 13 years before returning to the U.S. in 2003. She has exhibited in the U.K., India, and in the U.S., including in the Erasing Borders exhibitions of the Indo-American Arts Council, group shows at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Art in Embassies exhibition in Belmopan, Belize, and Sacred Vanity, a solo show at Gallery 51 in Montclair, NJ. She has served on the Boards of India Rural Development Fund and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. Currently she is a board member of the South Asian Youth Action based in Queens, NY.