WASHINGTON, D.C.- Washington philanthropist Victoria P. Sant was elected president of the National Gallery of Art today at a meeting of the Gallery’s trustees. She succeeds Robert H. Smith, who becomes trustee emeritus. At the same meeting, John C. Fontaine, chairman of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, was appointed as a new trustee.

"We owe a profound debt of gratitude to Robert Smith for two decades of philanthropy and distinguished service," said Robert F. Erburu, chairman, Board of Trustees. "Vicki Sant brings a wealth of experience to the position of president from her time as a Gallery docent to her decades of leadership in the areas of global population and the environment. We also welcome John Fontaine with his vast knowledge of art history and corporate governance and strategy."

Smith, chairman of the Charles E. Smith Companies, became the first chairman of the Gallery’s newly formed Trustees’ Council, a national advisory body to the Board of Trustees, in 1982. In 1985 he joined the board as a trustee upon the retirement of Paul Mellon, and in 1993 he succeeded John R. Stevenson as president. After serving on the campaign committee for the Gallery’s Patrons’ Permanent Fund, in 1986 he became founding co-chair, with Katherine Graham, of The Circle, the Gallery’s annual membership group. He subsequently chaired the Gallery’s 50th Anniversary Gift Committee. Recently he chaired the Gallery’s New Century Fund campaign. Smith and his wife Clarice have supported numerous initiatives, such as staff development and scholarly endeavors. Among their gifts of art are drawings by such masters as François Boucher, Canaletto, Thomas Gainsborough, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, and Pablo Picasso. They also lent their stellar collection of Renaissance bronzes for the opening of the new sculpture galleries in 2002.

Victoria Sant and her husband Roger have been members of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art since 1987 and the Collectors Committee since 2000. She served as chairman of the Trustees’ Council from 2001 to 2002. She is the immediate past chairman of The Phillips Collection, where she also served as president for three years. Her interest in art began at Stanford University, where she took art history courses and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in history and literature. She also did graduate work in speech pathology and audiology. About twelve years ago, she and her husband began collecting art with a focus on the Nabis, including such painters as Édouard Vuillard, Pierre Bonnard, and Maurice Denis. In 1999 the Sants provided funds to the National Gallery to establish an acquisition fund for 19th-century paintings.

The Sants moved from Palo Alto, California, to Washington, D.C., in 1974, when Roger Sant was appointed to the Federal Energy Administration. Victoria Sant began work on behalf of global population issues and was a National Gallery of Art docent from 1983 to 1985. In 1981 Roger Sant co-founded AES, a global power company. In 1982 the Sants co-founded what are now known as The Summit Foundation and The Summit Fund of Washington. As president of both organizations, Victoria Sant oversees their local and international grantmaking in the fields of population and the environment. Among her current board memberships are Stanford University; The Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region; The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; The DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; Population Action International; and Vital Voices for Global Partnership.

John (Jack) C. Fontaine has been chairman of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation since 1994 and a member of its board since 1975. The Foundation devotes its resources to advancing the history, conservation, and enjoyment of European art, architecture, and archaeology from antiquity to the 19th century. The Foundation is also associated with The Kress Collection of more than 3,000 works of European art that were assembled by Samuel H. Kress and the Kress Foundation between 1927 and 1961, and donated to more than 90 museums in the United States, Puerto Rico, and France. Of the 3,000 works they gave 1,800 to the National Gallery of Art. The Kress Foundation has also funded many Gallery acquisitions and initiatives in conservation and fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.

Fontaine has been a member of the Gallery’s Trustees’ Council from 1984 to 2000 and from 2002 to present. He and his wife Betty, who reside in New York City, have supported such Gallery initiatives as the 50th Anniversary Gift Committee, the New Century Fund, and The Circle. They are collectors of American, Asian, and Latin American art and decorative objects.

John Fontaine was president of Knight Ridder, a major newspaper company, and a member of its board of directors. Following his retirement from Knight Ridder, he rejoined the New York law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, where he had been managing partner and represented major companies in significant transactions, as well as advising them on governance and strategy.

Fontaine is a member of the boards of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and the National Executive Service Corporation. Until recently he was vice chairman of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, served as chairman of the Florida Philharmonic, and was a board member of the Salzburg Seminar. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School.

Board of Trustees: The members of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art are The Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Victoria P. Sant, Robert F. Erburu, Julian Ganz, Jr., David O. Maxwell, and John C. Fontaine.