NY's Met Museum shakes up leadership with new CEO

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Tuesday the appointment of Daniel Weiss as chief executive officer, shaking up its leadership structure as the famed institution works to contain a budget deficit.

The 60-year-old medieval history scholar will take on overall leadership. And whoever replaces the outgoing director and CEO -- British tapestries expert Thomas Campbell -- will report to Weiss, rather than the other way around.

The US expert in Crusades-era art, who formerly headed Haverford College near Philadelphia, will remain president, a position he has held since 2015.

Weiss's appointment was approved unanimously by the board of trustees and follows a comprehensive review of the museum's leadership.

It means that the incoming director will lead artistic direction and curatorial priorities, leaving Weiss in charge of the budget.

A US citizen, Weiss has degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the Yale School of Management and George Washington University, and had already been serving as interim CEO since February.

The Met, one of the world's largest museums with collections spanning the globe from antiquity onward, opened a modern art annex, the Met Breuer, last year and says overall attendance has shot up to seven million visits a year.

Campbell announced in February that he was resigning as director and chief executive officer. The museum is still searching for a new director.

The New York Times said Campbell was seen as having failed to recognize a ballooning budget deficit, adequately prepare for an ambitious building expansion or unite staff behind his agenda.

Having sounded the alarm about a looming $40 million deficit, Weiss had since brought the deficit to $15 million after buyouts, layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

It is not the first time that the museum has shifted its leadership structure. While the president had currently reported to the director and CEO since 1999, the opposite had been true beginning in 1977.

Art institutions around the United States -- which enjoy less state support than counterparts in Europe -- have struggled to improve their finances as donors remain wary despite the recovery from the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

US museums and performing arts venues are bracing for more trouble ahead as President Donald Trump looks set to target cultural funding.