NEW YORK, NY.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art is getting its third leader in four years as it continues to deal with the fallout from a racially insensitive job posting that led to its longtime leader’s departure in 2021.

Newfields, whose campus includes the museum, announced Monday that Le Monte G. Booker Sr., the chief financial officer of Chicago’s Field Museum, would serve as its next president and CEO. Booker replaces Colette Pierce Burnette, the first Black woman in the role, who departed in November for unclear reasons after just more than a year on the job.

In a statement, Booker called Newfields “an outstanding example of a cornerstone cultural institution,” adding that he looked forward to working with the board and staff “to continue to meet the mission of enriching lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature.”

Neither the museum nor Burnette — who replaced the museum’s previous leader, Charles L. Venable, who resigned in 2021 after the controversy over the job posting — have provided a reason for her departure.

The months after Burnette’s exit were followed by public protests outside the museum, as dozens of people questioned Newfields’ commitment to the diversity and inclusion promises it had made after the job posting and demanded her reinstatement. Five members of the institution’s board of trustees and four members of the volunteer-based board of governors, which is focused on community advocacy and has no official decision-making authority, resigned.

Michael Kubacki, the chair of the local Lake City Bank and a former board member, had been serving as the interim president and CEO of Newfields. Kubacki and Venable are both white.

Booker takes the reins at the museum, Indiana’s largest and most influential art institution, at a time of rebuilding and outreach to Black artists begun by Burnette, who was hired as part of Newfields’ response to the furor.

It also recently appointed a new director, Belinda Tate, a Black woman who was previously the executive director of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Michigan. The museum had taken steps like establishing a $20 million fund to buy art from marginalized groups, increasing its board’s diversity and holding anti-racism training.

Newfields, located near both wealthy, largely white neighborhoods and poorer ones with a larger proportion of Black residents, apologized in 2021 when its online job posting for a museum director said it was seeking a candidate who would diversify the institution while maintaining its “traditional, core, white art audience.”

Booker, who Newfields said was chosen from more than 200 applicants, earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Lisle, Illinois, as well as a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management from DePaul University in Chicago, according to his LinkedIn profile.

As the chief financial officer at the Field Museum, a role he has held for the past nine years, Booker oversaw facilities planning and operations, grants administration and institutional construction projects, according to Newfields. Booker previously was the chief financial officer at several nonprofit organizations, including Easter Seals and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Darrianne Christian, the chair of the Newfields board of trustees, said in a statement Monday that Booker “possesses the right mindset, temperament, aptitude and leadership skills needed for this role.”

“Mr. Booker stood out not only for meeting all of our initial search criteria, but also for bringing fresh perspectives we hadn’t previously considered to the process,” she added. “His extensive museum experience gives him a comprehensive understanding of how institutions like Newfields need to operate to thrive.”

Booker will start at Newfields in late October.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.