TO SUCCEED DAVID E. McKINNEY ON JANUARY 15, 2005
(New York, September 14, 2004)—The Metropolitan Museum of Art today announced that Emily Kernan Rafferty, an accomplished senior executive at the Museum, will become its next President, effective with the previously announced retirement of David E. McKinney on January 15, 2005. Ms. Rafferty was formally elected to the presidency today at the regular meeting of the Metropolitan's Board of Trustees. The decision was announced by James R. Houghton, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Philippe de Montebello, the Museum's Director and Chief Executive Officer.
A 28-year employee of the Metropolitan who began her long and distinguished career at the Museum as a fundraising administrator in 1976, Ms. Rafferty has risen steadily within its ranks through several eras of growth and change at the institution. Since 1999, she has served as the Metropolitan's Senior Vice President for External Affairs, with responsibility for the areas of development, visitor services, admissions, and special events. She also leads the effort to create and manage the Museum's Web site, and its multicultural audience and membership initiative. In her current position, Ms. Rafferty helps to generate a significant and crucial portion of the Museum's annual operating and capital construction budgets through corporate and individual giving, membership dues, and myriad other global fundraising activities. She also serves on the Museum's senior executive council, which oversees a wide range of planning and policy matters, including staff development and construction.
As President, Ms. Rafferty will be responsible for supervising all areas of museum administration, including development and membership, technology and information services, human resources, merchandising, communications, government relations, legal affairs, and finance, as well as facilities management, security, and construction. Like Mr. McKinney, she will report to Museum Director Philippe de Montebello, and will also serve as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.
Ms. Rafferty was nominated for the presidency by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, which has been serving as a Transition Committee to recommend a succession plan since Mr. McKinney announced in June that he would retire in early 2005 after reaching the age of 70.
"We are delighted – and, as an institution, truly blessed – to have the opportunity to recognize and promote one of our own most talented and experienced executives to take the presidential reins from Dave McKinney," commented Chairman Houghton. "Emily Rafferty has already done much to build and sustain the Met's financial and administrative strength. In electing her to the presidency, the Board not only recognizes her past accomplishments, but looks to her well-demonstrated leadership abilities to help guide the administration into the future. We are confident that Emily will continue to exemplify the highest standards of excellence as she works in her new role to support Philippe de Montebello's vision for the Metropolitan Museum."
Added Mr. de Montebello: "Emily Rafferty is that rarest and most priceless of colleagues: a committed, tireless, and gifted professional who has devoted nearly her entire working lifetime to the Met, fully understands its complexities, yet possesses the inventiveness and energy to forge new and better ways to help it safeguard its preeminence into the 21st century. I know that the entire staff, which has long recognized and relied on her leadership, will be as confident as I am that the Museum's chief administrative role will remain in capable hands in facing the challenges of the future."
Commented Ms. Rafferty: "I am truly honored to have the opportunity to serve the Metropolitan Museum as its next President, and deeply grateful to the Board and the Director for their confidence in me. In my mind and heart – more than ever – the health and vitality of the Met is crucial to the education and enlightenment of visitors from the city, the nation, and the world. I look forward to continuing and enhancing my work with Philippe de Montebello to assure that the Met remains ideally positioned to meet this obligation in the years to come. Having also worked closely and learned much over the past 15 years under the last two, superb museum Presidents – first William H. Luers and most recently David E. McKinney – I feel especially prepared to assume my new responsibilities in 2005. And I look forward to working closely with Dave McKinney over the next four months to ensure a seamless transition for our staff and our public."
Both Mr. Houghton and Mr. de Montebello joined in expressing their appreciation to outgoing President McKinney, who has served in his post since February 1, 1999. "An able administrator with a strong reputation in the worlds of business and education, David McKinney has brought patience, skill, managerial expertise, and unquestionable integrity to his work at the Met, making certain that the value of the individual has remained first and foremost," said Mr. Houghton. "We are grateful for his six years of devoted service and also grateful to his wife, Nancy, who added so much to the life of the Museum. Dave has stood for all the right values at the Met and leaves us in a very strong position indeed. All of the Trustees and staff wish him well in what we are certain will be a very busy and productive next phase of his life."
Commented Mr. de Montebello: "David McKinney's strength and maturity have made a major impact on the Metropolitan Museum and its staff in recent years. Among his many contributions, drawing on his experience as a top executive with IBM, he did singular work bringing the Met into the modern era in technology, revolutionizing the way we communicate to ourselves, with our fellow professionals, and with the public. Dave has been an outstanding President and we thank him for his exemplary work on the museum's behalf."
Emily K. Rafferty
Emily Kernan Rafferty, a native of New York City, earned her B.A. degree cum laude from Boston University in 1971 and began her professional career that year as an arts and philanthropy assistant to David Rockefeller, Jr., in Boston. From 1973 to 1975 she served as deputy director of education at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.
Returning to New York to join the Metropolitan Museum in 1976, she served for five years as Administrator for Corporate, Foundation, and Individual Fundraising, and then became Manager of Development in 1981, a position she held for three years. From 1984 to 1996 she served as Vice President for Development and Membership, and from 1996-1999 as Senior Vice President before assuming her current position as Senior Vice President for External Affairs. In her present position she also serves as the liaison to the Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee. During her 20 years in charge of the Metropolitan's vast national and international fundraising operations, Ms. Rafferty has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Museum, and has worked to build individual, family, and corporate memberships to nearly 120,000.
A frequent speaker on topics related to non-profit management and fundraising, Ms. Rafferty has long been actively affiliated with a number of arts and inter-museum organizations, including ArtTable (board of directors 1991-94), the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Women in Financial Development, the American Association of Museums (development committee, 1984-94), and Independent Sector (Metropolitan Museum representative).
Among her many voluntary activities, she is a lifetime honorary trustee of the Convent of the Sacred Heart (board member, 1975-2000; chairman, 1993-97), also serving at the same time as vice president of the board of the Independent School Chairmen Association. From 1999 to 2000 she also served on the "blue ribbon committee" of the American Cancer Society Foundation. In addition, Ms. Rafferty was from 1998 to 1999 president of the Blue Hill Troupe, Gilbert and Sullivan Repertory Theatre, a group with which she has been affiliated since 1977.
Ms. Rafferty is married to John Rafferty, an audit partner at Ernst & Young. The couple has a son, Nicholas, a recent graduate of Trinity College, and a daughter, Sara, a student at New York University.
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