DURHAM, NC.- The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University today announced the establishment of the Waldron Family Associate Curator, an endowed position created to ensure the museum’s historical collections remain a dynamic and integral part of its curatorial mission.

This distinguished role is held by Katherine Werwie, PhD, who oversees the museum’s historical collections—from the ancient Mediterranean to 1900—and leads innovative efforts to connect these works with contemporary art by underrepresented artists. Through research, exhibitions, and scholarship, Werwie draws vital links between the past and present to illuminate enduring questions of human experience.

The endowed curatorship is made possible through the generosity of Amanda J. and John E. Waldron, whose commitment supports both the preservation of historical collections and their relevance to today’s conversations.

“John and I believe in the power of museums to foster connection across time and cultures,” said Amanda J. Waldron, who holds a BS in Economics from Duke University and a master’s degree in Modern and Contemporary Art from Christie’s Education in London. “It’s an honor to support a role that not only preserves the past but also invites new generations to engage with it in meaningful and relevant ways.” Waldron, a former private equity investor, is deeply involved in the arts and education communities, serving on the Board of Directors at the Brooklyn Museum and on the Tate Americas Acquisitions Committee.

Werwie completed her Ph.D. at Yale University and has held curatorial roles at the Yale Center for British Art, the Worcester Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Met Cloisters. Her latest research centers on the scientific study of historical objects in the Nasher’s collection to address questions of provenance and ethical stewardship. She recently co-curated On the Same Wavelength: Art, Science & Conservation, an exhibition organized in collaboration with students enrolled in Duke’s Curatorial Practicum seminar.

Werwie’s leadership in the field has also been nationally recognized through her selection for the 2025 Museums Next Generation Program, an international curatorial exchange run by Villa Albertine, the French Embassy’s institute for culture and education. As one of only seven American curators chosen for this prestigious cohort—including representatives from the Denver Art Museum, MoMA PS1, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Smith College Museum of Art—Werwie will travel to France for a two-week program of meetings with museum directors, curators, and cultural leaders. The initiative is designed to foster long-term collaboration between American and French institutions and marks an investment in the next generation of museum leadership.

The Villa Albertine launched Museums Next Generation in 2023 as a forward-looking incubator for curators poised to shape the future of museums on a global scale.

For Werwie, the role of Associate Curator is not only about stewardship, but about innovation: “The questions we ask of these objects—how they were made, what they meant to their past owners, where they have traveled—are deeply human ones,” she said. “The endowed Associate Curator position allows me to pursue those inquiries in deeper and more public ways, connecting the past to our present and future.”

The Waldron Family Associate Curator role affirms the Nasher Museum’s commitment to scholarship, ethical stewardship, and dynamic storytelling, ensuring that historical collections continue to engage audiences and provoke dialogue for generations to come.