SALEM, MASS.- The Peabody Essex Museum announced that Kurt T. Steinberg, Ed. D., will serve as the Museum’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) as of January 17, 2023. Steinberg brings considerable experience as a cultural leader and expertise as an executive arts administrator to his new role at PEM.

“Kurt’s commitment to the life-enhancing power of creativity and lifelong learning, as well as his track record of cultivating institutional excellence, make him an exceptional fit for PEM,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO. “His inclusive, non-profit leadership, combined with his ability to forge strategic relationships from the regional to the global, will help PEM, one of the country’s oldest and largest museums, thrive.”

Working under Hartigan’s guidance and in collaboration with the Museum’s Executive Leadership Team and Board of Trustees, Steinberg will oversee the Museum’s collection services, facilities, financial, marketing and communications, and security operations and serve as a strategic advisor to maximize team performance and create sustainable processes while also ensuring that PEM excels at being effective, impactful, and compelling.

“I am very excited to serve the Peabody Essex Museum community as the next COO. Partnering with Executive Director and CEO Lynda Roscoe Hartigan and the outstanding staff at the PEM in fulfilling the mission of this great and long-lived institution is an amazing opportunity,” said Steinberg.

Steinberg has served as the 8th President of Montserrat College of Art since 2018, a position he assumed after 12 years as Executive Vice President and one year as Acting President at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. An authority in collegiate operations, Steinberg is a noted guest lecturer on an array of topics, from organizational transformation to strategic goal achievement, and has served on and chaired accreditation teams for the New England Commission of Higher Education (N.E.C.H.E.), the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (N.A.S.A.D.), National Association of Schools of Music (N.A.S.M.), and the National Association of Schools of Dance (N.A.S.D.). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Syracuse University and a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He earned his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University.