After a few weeks of rumours it has been confirmed that Gerard Vaughan is to take over from Ron Radford as the next director of the National Gallery of Australia. Vaughan will finish his position at the Australian Institute of Art History at the University of Melbourne and begin the new role on November 10th.

From the press release (full version here)

Professor Vaughan is a recognised international scholar and has had a distinguished career in the museum and galleries sector. He has an outstanding record of leadership, stakeholder engagement, fundraising and cultural diplomacy.

Professor Vaughan has extensive knowledge of the arts sector gained in his thirteen years as Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, as Director of the British Museum Development Trust and in roles at Oxford University and with the Felton Bequest.

Currently, he is a Professorial Fellow at the Australian Institute of Art History at the University of Melbourne, on the Board of the University of Melbourne Humanities Foundation and has previously served as a member of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors.

Professor Vaughan was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 for services to the arts and was awarded the Légion d’honneur in 2013.

Dr Radford leaves an impressive legacy for the National Gallery including a significant extension of the Gallery’s building and a substantial expansion of the national art collection to include major acquisitions such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s major painting Warlugulong 1977, Frederick McCubbin’s Violet and Gold, and the largest and most important Australian surrealist collection ever assembled comprising 285 works. His program of international blockbuster exhibitions including Masterpieces from Paris will be remembered by hundreds of thousands of visitors from across the country.

— Katrina Grant