DOHA.- Prominent museum professional Pamela Erskine-Loftus has joined the ranks of Northwestern University in Qatar’s leadership as the director of its media gallery.

Erskine-Loftus will apply more than 15 years of experience in establishing new museums in the Gulf and US to NU-Q’s long-planned exhibition space, which will showcase the past, present and future of media and communications with global and Middle Eastern emphasis. She will work closely with a task force that is helping to conceptualize the themes and content for the new gallery.

Dean and CEO of NU-Q, Everette E. Dennis said the university’s aim is to “have an interactive, digital entity that reflects the values and purposes of the school while reaching out to audiences beyond Education City.”

The new director’s professional experience includes appointments in the U.S. at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, where she led an eight-person development department, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she managed the department of education.

In the Middle East, Erskine-Loftus has held positions, including the Sharjah Museums Department in the United Arab Emirates, where she was head of interpretation and education. More recently, she worked with the Qatar Museums Authority in Doha, where she was curator for a new museum focusing on art, heritage and the environment. Since 2012 she has worked on several independent projects including creation of the MAP Collective—an online platform on Arabian museums and museum practice. During this period, she also edited two books: Reimagining Museums: Practice in the Arabian Peninsula (Museums Etc., 2013) and Museums and the Material World: Collecting the Arabian Peninsula (Museums Etc., 2014).

“We are fortunate to have attracted a professional of Dr. Erskine-Loftus’s standing and skills for what will be a groundbreaking exhibition experience in the new NU-Q Media Gallery,” Dennis said.

The installation was designed by famed museum designer Ralph Appelbaum who is known for his work on the Holocaust Memorial and Newseum in Washington D.C.

Erskine-Loftus received a master’s in museum studies from the University of Leicester and a PhD in Arabian Peninsula Museology from Newcastle University. Active in scholarly and professional museum associations, she has published a number of papers and has presented at major conferences.