HARTFORD, CONN.- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art announced today that it is transitioning to a distributed leadership model, splitting the roles of the CEO and Director into two separate positions, enabling the institution to better seize opportunities in a changing museum environment, consistent with its evolutionary heritage.

In the new dyadic structure, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be responsible for the overall leadership, vision, and strategic direction of the organization and its staff. The Director will report to the CEO and will be responsible for the artistic direction of the museum, steering the collection management, exhibitions, and educational programming activities. A search committee formed earlier this year by the Board of Trustees helped define this new model and identify the specifications of each position. Together, the CEO and Director form a leadership team and both will sit on the Board as Ex-Officio members.

“The Board has considered moving to this management structure for a number of years as other museums and performing arts institutions have implemented some version of distributed leadership. A combination of opportunity and greater clarity through experience has inspired the Wadsworth Board to pursue this bold move,” said Gerard Lupacchino, Interim Board President of the Wadsworth Atheneum. “The Wadsworth will benefit from having expert leadership in both the general management and artistic direction of the museum. An increased set of skills, expertise, and experience will maximize the potential of this 21st century, world-class museum.”

“This leadership model expands the depth and breadth of expertise at the highest level. What makes it work are enlightened individuals committed to transparency, teamwork, and good will,” said Daniel H. Weiss, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which reinstalled a dual leadership model in June of 2017. “Having both the CEO and Director on the Board creates a strong model of shared governance among the Director, CEO, and Trustees.”

To begin the transition to this new leadership model, the Board of Trustees has appointed Jeffrey N. Brown as the museum’s new CEO. Brown, who has served as the Interim CEO and Director since April 1, 2021, and previously as a Trustee since 2012, will also continue to serve as Director until the search for that position is successfully concluded. The ongoing search for the new museum Director is expected to go into early 2022. Brown will remain as CEO when the position of Director has been filled.

“Jeff brings 40 years of varied experience in the management of complex organizations, with unique experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations,” said Lupacchino. “He is well known in the market as a corporate and non-profit executive, and has a deep commitment to the Wadsworth.”

“Jeff’s leadership of the museum over the last six months has been a master class in thoughtful and effective management,” said Caroline Cunningham Young, Governor Ned Lamont’s representative on the Wadsworth Board, granddaughter of one of the museum’s storied directors, Charles C. Cunningham, and a member of the MASS MoCA Board of Directors. “His unassuming and collaborative approach gives the Board great confidence in a successful transition to this new organizational model and positions the museum well for the future.”




The Wadsworth is continuing to build on its long-standing tradition of groundbreaking scholarship and special exhibitions—such as its acclaimed current exhibition, By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy 1500-1800—while accelerating efforts to engage the community and emerge strongly from the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.

“The Wadsworth is a very special place, with multiple intertwined and interdependent responsibilities to balance,” said Brown. “Responsibilities to our proud heritage, relevance to the present, and preparations for a yet unwritten future all require a range of knowledge along with innovative, creative thinking and responsive, responsible actions. I look forward to working collaboratively in teamwork with the next Director, our talented staff, and the community to further the mission and vision of the Wadsworth Atheneum.”

“The new leadership model recognizes the strengths of the Wadsworth as well as its potential, which makes this a very promising step forward,” said Tamara Williams, Chair of The Amistad Center for Art & Culture Board. “We are proud of our longstanding relationship with the Wadsworth and look forward to partnering with this new leadership team to continue to bring inspiring and engaging experiences to the Greater Hartford community and beyond.”

“Jeff has a deep commitment to the City of Hartford and the State of Connecticut. He and I have partnered on numerous community initiatives over the years, including The Bushnell’s groundbreaking partnership with the Hartford Symphony,” said Robert Patricelli, former chair of The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts Board of Directors, longtime insurance and healthcare executive, community leader, and the current co-chair of Hartford Promise. “He will certainly bring a community focus to the job, along with skilled, experienced leadership.”

Jeffrey N. Brown

Jeffrey Brown is best known as a long serving senior executive at Webster Financial Corp., the parent of Webster Bank, and more recently as a senior executive of Newman’s Own, the family of companies founded by actor Paul Newman. At Newman’s Own, he served as the President of three subsidiary companies including No Limit, the licensing arm of the organization, where he oversaw the use of all Newman’s Own marks and Paul Newman’s intellectual property rights. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of both Newman’s Own Foundation, the parent organization, and the food company Newman’s Own, Inc.

Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Webster Financial Corporation and Webster Bank N.A. in Waterbury, Connecticut. Before that he held a variety of senior positions in Marketing and Communications at Fleet Bank, Shawmut Bank and Connecticut National Bank.

A Glastonbury resident, Brown is an Honorary Trustee of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, a Fellow of Eastern Connecticut State University and serves as a director of the Eastern Connecticut State University Foundation. His past affiliations include membership on the advisory board of the Yale Center for Consumer Insights and as the founding president of the Harold Webster Smith Foundation. He is a chair emeritus of the Communications Council of the American Bankers Association, a former representative to the Financial Services Roundtable, and a past vice chairman of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.