The Board of Trustees of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich has announced that Robert Wolterstorff, the Susan E. Lynch executive director and CEO of the Bruce Museum, will be leaving that post June 30.
Wolterstorff joined the Bruce in June 2019 https://www.wagmag.com/time-of-renewal/ and assumed responsibility for the New Bruce Capital Campaign with the goal to more than double the size of the museum with a 43,000- square-foot addition. Under his leadership, the museum finished the $68 million campaign and completed construction of the addition, reopening in April 2023. Wolterstorff added important promised or loaned art collections to the museum, including the Impressionist and Modern art in the William L. Richter Gallery and the David Hockney collection on loan from Roy B. and Edith J. Simpson on display in the Blavatnik Family Gallery.
The Board of Trustees of the Bruce Museum has a plan in place to ensure a smooth transition with an interim executive director from the board and has begun a search for a new executive director/CEO.
“With the new building up and running, growing pains being thoughtfully addressed, new fiscal leadership in place,and the strategic plan providing a road map for the future, I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do,” Wolterstorff said in a statement. “It is a good moment for me to step away.”
Simone McEntire and Bill Deutsch, co-chairs of the board, added, “We are sure everyone joins us in our appreciation for all that Robert has done to launch the new Bruce and in our best wishes for the next step in his career. Robert has made numerous contributions to the New Bruce for which we are grateful.”
The new fiscal leadership to which Wolterstorff alluded is the appointment of Jonathan Rohner as the new chief operating officer (COO), effective immediately. In this role, Rohner will be responsible for all operations of the museum, including finance, IT/systems, communications/ marketing, public relations and social media and human resources, as well as the security, facilities, retail and café operations of the museum. Rohner will serve as co-leader of the museum alongside the executive director and report directly to the board.
Rohner comes to the Bruce from the Yale Peabody Museum/Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) in New Haven, where he was director of finance and administration since 2016. Prior to Yale Peabody, he served as the finance and administration manager for the Yale School of Art and the business manager for the Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre. Rohner graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He received a Master of Arts, Arts Administration, from Columbia University in Manhattan. He has worked in museums and cultural organizations his entire career and has held roles of increasing responsibility in finance, grants, digital media and education at distinguished museums, including The Frick Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), all in Manhattan, along with the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C.
Said Trustee Jacqueline Walker: “I, along with other board members, had the opportunity to meet with Rohner during the search process. His innovative thinking and excitement about the combined science and art mission were unmistakable. The entire board and I look forward to his success in implementing our recently completed strategic plan and helping the Bruce Museum reach new heights.”
Rohner added, “I am excited and honored to join the Bruce as COO and invigorated by the prospect of helping guide the museum to further prominence and greater accomplishments in the coming years. The Bruce is a special and rare museum with a dual focus on art and science and a stunning new facility. These assets can spark discovery, make connections and foster curiosity in the young and old alike, and I look forward to my part in launching this exciting new era for the Bruce.”
