The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has announced its new board chair: Purna R. Saggurti, vice chair of Bank of America and chairman of Global Corporate and Investment Banking. Saggurti will lead the board of trustees at a pivotal moment as the museum celebrates its centennial and enters its second century.

“I am excited to work closely with Purna in this new role, and I’m grateful for his support of our museum,” said the National Museum of Asian Art’s director Chase F. Robinson. “Purna’s leadership comes at a critical time for our institution, as we continue our transformation into a global resource for understanding Asian arts and cultures and their intersection with America.”

Saggurti will be supported by the new vice chair Carolyn Brehm, founder and CEO of Brehm Global Ventures LLC. Additionally, retired U.S. diplomat Pamela Hyde Smith will continue as secretary. Janine Luke, president of Silbanc Properties, will be returning as a trustee.

“I am grateful to have such a strong group of trustees to usher the National Museum of Asian Art into a new era,” Saggurti said. “The centennial celebrations, where Bank of America was a Presenting Sponsor, has been an exciting way to begin the museum’s second century. I am pleased to have the opportunity to lead more innovative initiatives.”

Trustees serve for four-year terms. The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents approved the board appointments, effective Oct. 27. The 17-member Board of Regents, consisting of the Chief Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, three members of the U.S. Senate, three members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and nine citizens, is responsible for the administration of the Smithsonian.

Officers serve for two-year terms.

About the Appointees

Carolyn Brehm, Washington, D.C., is the founder and CEO of Brehm Global Ventures LLC. Brehm is a retired corporate executive and lecturer with more than 40 years of experience in global government relations, public policy and international business. She worked at two Fortune 100 companies and several non-profits and business associations over the course of her career in Washington and Asia. She advises clients on commercial advocacy, government affairs, public policy and political risk.

Brehm retired in 2017 from The Procter & Gamble Co. as vice president for global government relations and public policy where she created and led P&G’s team of 60 government relations practitioners based in key markets across the globe. She was responsible for public policy and legislative advocacy to protect and grow P&G’s business, advising four company chairmen and CEOs over her 17 years there.

During a 13-year stint with General Motors Corp., Brehm served as chief international lobbyist in Washington and in business expansion roles in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She led Asia operations in Hong Kong for ORBIS International, a global NGO working to eliminate avoidable blindness.

She currently chairs the board of global health NGO Population Services International and is a trustee of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. She also sits on the board of governors at the University of New Haven and the board of advisors of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and University of Michigan and is a regular lecturer for the Washington campus.

Brehm is a 1977 graduate of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service with a concentration in Asian studies and holds a Master of Business Administration in international business from the University of New Haven’s program in Nicosia, Cyprus. She was an AFS International exchange student in Mumbai, India, in 1972. Brehm speaks Mandarin and has studied French.

Janine Luke, New York City, is the president of Silbanc Properties, a private real estate company. From 1978 to 2012, Luke was the sole owner of Shepherd Management Corp. in New York, a non-registered investment advisory firm specializing in family and individual portfolios. She was previously the director of Windrove Service Corp. in New York, an investment advisory firm, from 1980 to 2012. She is a trustee of the Children’s Aid Society, a director of the American Friends of the Shanghai Museum, the Center for Plant Conservation, the Charleston Library Society and the Master Drawings Association.

Purna R. Saggurti, New York City and Warren, New Jersey, is vice chair of the Bank of America and chairman of Global Corporate and Investment Banking. Prior to his current role, Saggurti served as the co-head of Global Corporate and Investment Banking.

Saggurti is a member of the management committee of Bank of America. He was on the board of the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee and was previously vice chairman of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council for the bank.

Prior to Bank of America acquiring Merrill Lynch, Saggurti was head of Americas at Merrill Lynch, which included all investment banking coverage, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets origination in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

Saggurti is currently a member of the executive board of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, Saggurti was a member of the graduate executive board of The Wharton School, was a member of the board of trustees of the Tennessee Technological University and the former chairman of the board of trustees of the John Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations. He also was co-chairman of the finance committee of the “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations.

Saggurti holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in chemical engineering from Andhra University, a Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from Tennessee Technological University and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School.

Pamela Hyde Smith, Washington, D.C., is a former ambassador and retired U.S. diplomat residing in Telluride, Colorado, and Washington. She served during her career in Bucharest, Belgrade, Jakarta, London, Washington and as U.S. ambassador to Moldova. Subsequently she led inspections of U.S. embassies and Washington operations for the Department of State’s inspector general.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she worked in graphic design and public relations. From 2003 through 2007, Smith taught courses on public diplomacy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, both at the master’s and the undergraduate degree levels. From 2014 to 2020, she volunteered as a docent at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.

Smith has served on the board of the National Museum of Asian Art since 2019. She also serves on the boards of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and the Maryland/DC Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She has a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Wellesley College. Her languages are Romanian, Indonesian, Serbo-Croatian and French.

About the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching and interpreting art in ways that deepen our collective understanding of Asia and the world. Home to more than 46,000 objects, the museum stewards one of North America’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. Its rich holdings bring the arts of Asia into direct dialogue with an important collection of 19th- and early 20th-century American works, providing an essential platform for creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United States, Asia and the Middle East.

Beginning with a 1906 gift that paved the way for the museum’s opening in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art is a leading resource for visitors, students and scholars in the United States and internationally. Its galleries, laboratories, archives and library are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and are part of the world’s largest museum complex, which typically reports more than 27 million visits each year. The museum is free and open to the public 364 days a year (closed Dec. 25), making its exhibitions, programs, learning opportunities and digital initiatives accessible to global audiences.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has announced the signing of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts for the Kingdom of Cambodia and Badan Layanan Umum Museum dan Cagar Budaya, a unit under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, which outline ways the National Museum of Asian Art will seek to collaborate with these entities to address pressing issues in the global cultural heritage sector.

These MOUs build on the National Museum of Asian Art’s longstanding tradition of sharing its expertise on a global scale through projects that emphasize research and cultural exchange. They signal the National Museum of Asian Art’s commitment to working collaboratively across all areas of museum practice, including:

• Staff exchanges and professional development
• Museum management and practice
• Exhibitions and object loans
• Research projects in such areas as art history, conservation, cultural heritage preservation and provenance

“The National Museum of Asian Art has a long history of working together with colleagues across Southeast Asia,” said Chase F. Robinson, the museum’s director. “MOUs such as these allow us to deepen our knowledge by working with peers to build skills in all areas of museum practice, collaborate on a range of research projects and share their cultural heritage with our respective communities. It is through such partnerships that we strengthen the museum field globally and address audience expectations today.”

In its second century, the National Museum of Asian Art has taken a global turn. These partnerships with Cambodia and Indonesia animate the museum’s four strategic plan goals: to expand, preserve and celebrate its collections; to identify, attract and serve new and diverse audiences through both its physical and digital spaces; to foster an object-inspired understanding of the arts, communities, cultures and societies of Asia; and to build a museum culture that is creative, collaborative, transparent and resourceful.

Cultural Heritage Preservation and Global Partnership Initiatives

These MOUs are the latest example of the National Museum of Asian Art’s portfolio in cultural heritage preservation and global partnerships.

Other recent initiatives include:

• An international research project supported by the Carnegie Corp. to understand the challenges and gaps in protecting cultural heritage objects and workers in times of military/political crisis
• Field-leading provenance projects, including the first major symposium Nov. 1–4 on Asian art provenance research, convening experts from around the world
• A historic partnership with the Republic of Yemen Government to care for Yemeni objects repatriated by the U.S. government
• A major grant from the National Museum of Korea as part of its 2023 Overseas Korean Galleries Support Program to support an international loan show and staff exchanges, among other projects
• Capacity building and staff exchanges with museums across Asia
• International workshops and training opportunities in the museum’s department of conservation and scientific research
• Numerous global collaborative exhibitions including:
  • “A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur” (Nov. 19, 2022–May 14, 2023), one of the museum’s lead centennial exhibitions, included 25 paintings loaned from the City Palace Museum in Udaipur, which were prepared by the Palace Museum’s conservation lab that the National Museum of Asian Art helped to establish
  • “Masterpieces from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art: Special Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of America’s First National Museum of Art” (Oct. 13–Nov. 3, 2023), an innovative presentation at Japan’s oldest Zen temple, Kenninji, in Kyoto, featuring 18 high-resolution facsimiles of Japanese artworks in the Freer collection made possible through a partnership with Canon Inc. and the Kyoto Culture Association
  • “Fashioning an Empire: Textiles from Safavid Iran” at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar (Oct. 23, 2023–April 20, 2024) was first conceived of and presented at the National Museum of Asian Art and includes 12 works from its collections
  • The famed collection of the late Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-hee, to be mounted fall 2025, which is part of an ongoing partnership with the National Museum of Korea that involves numerous departments in the museum

About the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching and interpreting art in ways that deepen our collective understanding of Asia, the United States and the world. Home to more than 46,000 objects, the museum stewards one of North America’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. Its rich holdings bring the arts of Asia into direct dialogue with an important collection of 19th- and early 20th-century art from the United States, providing an essential platform for creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the U.S., Asia and the Middle East.

Beginning with a 1906 gift that paved the way for the museum’s opening in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art is a leading resource for visitors, students and scholars in the United States and internationally. Its galleries, laboratories, archives and library are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and are part of the world’s largest museum complex, which typically reports more than 27 million visits each year. The museum is free and open to the public 364 days a year (closed Dec. 25), making its exhibitions, programs, learning opportunities and digital initiatives accessible to global audiences.

The National Museum of Asian Art announces Bob Halbruner as its next chief advancement officer. Formerly the director of individual advancement at the Smithsonian Institution, he brings two decades of advancement leadership to the role along with a lifelong passion for arts and education. He will assume his new role on April 11. As chief advancement officer, Halbruner will lead the museum’s advancement team and guide the museum’s philanthropic strategy, overseeing all fundraising and donor cultivation efforts as the museum enters its second century. Reporting to the museum’s director, Halbruner will serve on the museum’s senior leadership team and play an essential role in both the museum’s and the Smithsonian’s next campaign.

“I am delighted that Bob will be joining the museum and I look forward to working with him to accelerate the museum’s fundraising,” said Chase F. Robinson, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, the National Museum of Asian Art. “As we celebrate our second century this year, Bob’s passion for our mission and years of expertise in museum fundraising will strengthen our advancement team at a time of great opportunity. Colleagues and I look forward to welcoming Bob.”

As the director of individual advancement at the Smithsonian Institution, Halbruner led its membership, major gifts and gift planning programs that generate $50 million in new commitments annually. Previously, he served as assistant vice president for development at the University of Virginia where he was responsible for strategy and management of nine fundraising teams that had a university-wide impact of more than $170 million annually, including those for the university’s museums and arts programs. Halbruner has also led fundraising efforts for the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Virginia Historical Society.

“I am incredibly honored to join the team at the National Museum of Asian Art as it launches into its second century,” said Halburner. “This is a special moment in time when the museum’s bold vision and fundraising campaign intersect and I am eager to begin working with and on behalf of its staff, leadership and family of support to help secure its future aspirations.”

“On behalf of the entire board of trustees, I’m pleased to welcome Bob to our museum,” said Antoine van Agtmael, the museum’s board chair. “I look forward to collaborating with Bob in my role as board chair as we work to provide the support needed to advance the museum’s bold vision and ambitions.”

Halbruner has been a participant in local and national leadership initiatives including the League of American Orchestras Executive Leadership Program, Leadership Charlotte, Foundation For The Carolinas Leadership Development Initiative and the Knight Foundation’s Magic of Music Initiative that studied the health of American orchestras. He has presented on a variety of arts and cultural participation topics at national conventions including the National Music Teachers Association, the League of American Orchestras and the American Association of State and Local History.

A graduate of the University of the Arts and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance.

Halbruner succeeds Patty Winterton who departed the museum in December 2022. Suzanne Brown has served as acting chief advancement officer since Winterton’s departure.

About the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching and interpreting art in ways that deepen our collective understanding of Asia and the world. Home to more than 45,000 objects, the museum stewards one of North America’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Islamic world. Its rich holdings bring the arts of Asia into direct dialogue with an important collection of 19th- and early 20th-century American works, providing an essential platform for creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United States, Asia and the Middle East.

Beginning with a 1906 gift that paved the way for the museum’s opening in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art is a leading resource for visitors, students and scholars in the United States and internationally. Its galleries, laboratories, archives and library are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and are part of the world’s largest museum complex, which typically reports more than 27 million visits each year. The museum is free and open to the public 364 days a year (closed Dec. 25), making its exhibitions, programs, learning opportunities and digital initiatives accessible to global audiences.

The National Museum of Asian Art has announced the newest appointments to its board of trustees: Mindy Kaling, Emmy-nominated writer, producer, New York Times best-selling author, director and actor; June Li, historian of Asian art and founding curator (emerita) of the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens; and Young Yang Chung, textile historian, museum founder and director and embroiderer, who is renewing her appointment for a second term. Each is a pioneer in her field, and all share a common commitment to arts and culture, especially in their power to foster understanding and respect and to celebrate diversity and community. They join at a pivotal moment as the National Museum of Asian Art prepares for its centennial in 2023—a springboard for the museum’s ongoing transformative work to broaden and deepen its impact on site, online and through national and international partnerships.

“The National Museum of Asian Art has a long tradition deeply rooted in the appreciation of Asian arts and history, with iconic objects in our collection that date back thousands of years,” said Chase F. Robinson, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. “As we enter our centennial year, we’re building on that deep tradition by launching a variety of innovative digital initiatives, public programs and community collaborations, which will help us share Asian arts and cultures with a wide range of audiences. Mindy, June and Young Yang personify these different facets of our museum. It is an honor to have them join our board at this important moment in our history.”

The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents approved their appointment for four-year terms each, effective October 1, 2022. The 17-member board of regents, consisting of the Chief Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, three members of the United States Senate, three members of the United States House of Representatives, and nine citizens, is responsible for the administration of the Smithsonian.

“I want to personally thank Mindy, June and Young Yang for their commitment to the National Museum of Asian Art and the vision and mission we have set forth,” said Antoine van Agtmael, the museum’s board chair. “These new appointees bring the board to 27 elected members, a diverse group of accomplished individuals from around the world who enrich our museum with their unique perspectives. Over the last three years, we have nearly doubled our membership, and never in the museum’s history have we had a larger or more diverse board.”

About the New Members

Mindy Kaling

Emmy-nominated writer, producer, New York Times best-selling author, director, actor, and, most recently a Tony Award winner, Kaling has been named one of the brightest voices of her generation.

At 24, Kaling joined the eight-person writing staff of The Office as the only woman. During her eight seasons, Kaling starred as Kelly Kapoor, wrote 26 episodes (more than any other writer), and became the first woman of color to be nominated for an Emmy in any writing category. Kaling directed two episodes and served as both producer and executive producer on over 120 episodes, earning five consecutive nominations for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

After signing an overall development deal with Universal Television, Kaling created the The Mindy Project, which she starred in and executive produced. At the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, Kaling premiered her debut screenplay, Late Night. The film received critical acclaim and was sold to Amazon for a record-setting deal.

One of Kaling’s more recent projects is the critically acclaimed series Never Have I Ever for Netflix, which recently wrapped production on its fourth and final season. Kaling is also the co-creator and executive producer of The Sex Lives of College Girls, which had the biggest premiere of any comedy on HBO Max in 2021. Upcoming projects for Kaling include season two of The Sex Lives of College Girls, Legally Blonde 3 and the animated adult-comedy Scooby-Doo prequel Velma.

Kaling has released two New York Times best-selling comedic memoirs and a collection of essays with Amazon. In 2022, Kaling launched a boutique literary line, Mindy’s Book Studio from Amazon, with its first selection, Sonali Dev’s The Vibrant Years, releasing this December.

June Li

Li is curator emerita and founding curator of Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. She began in this role in 2004 to establish the historical and cultural context for the garden while it was being built. She founded a series of educational programs, including lectures, symposiums, exhibitions, and performance arts to highlight Chinese garden culture. Li and her husband, Simon, also established the Center for East Asian Garden Studies at the Huntington. The first phase of the garden opened in 2008, the second in 2014 and completion was in 2020. After Li’s retirement in 2014, she continued as an advisor on Huntington projects, including the garden and curated an exhibition for which she co-authored the catalog “Gardens, Art and Commerce in Chinese Woodblock Prints.”

Li previously worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, first as a registrar then as assistant curator. She managed several exhibitions on Chinese art, including two major traveling exhibitions from China (a tomb sculpture show from Chinese museums, “The Quest for Eternity,” 1986–1988, and one on significant paintings from the collections of the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Shanghai Museum, “The Century of Tung Ch’i-Ch’ang,” 1990–1992). She also curated “Paintings of Zhi Yuan: Revisiting a Seventeenth-Century Chinese Garden” in 1995. Li retired as the associate curator of Chinese and Korean Art.

Li is a member of the East Asian Art Committee at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She serves on the boards of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

Li was born and raised in Hong Kong and studied art history, East Asian studies and Chinese art history at the University of Toronto and University of Pennsylvania.

Young Yang Chung

Chung is a textile historian, museum founder and director, collector and artist. She is a scholar of East Asian textiles and author of numerous books on the subject. Passionate about the art of embroidery from an early age, she founded her own institute, the International Embroidery School, in 1965. She is a master embroiderer, with works in several museum collections. She received Master of Arts and doctorate degrees in art education from New York University in the 1970s, and in the following decades committed herself to studying and perfecting Asian embroidery techniques and transmitting her knowledge of textile skills and history to audiences worldwide. Through lectures, demonstrations, publications and teaching, she has endeavored to foster appreciation of an art form often stigmatized as “women’s work” and to challenge the notion of textiles as “minor arts.”

Chung founded the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum at Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, in 2004, which she continues to direct. She also founded the Seol Won Foundation with a mission to advance knowledge and appreciation of world textile arts and promote cultural understanding between peoples in the East and West, sponsoring a variety of art exhibitions and educational efforts such as lectures, workshops, research projects, study programs and scholarly exchange. Entering her second term with the museum, she has served with distinction as a trustee since 2018.

About the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching and interpreting art in ways that deepen our collective understanding of Asia and the world. Home to more than 45,000 objects, the museum stewards one of North America’s largest and most comprehensive collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present from China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Islamic world. Its rich holdings bring the arts of Asia into direct dialogue with an important collection of 19th- and early 20th-century American works, providing an essential platform for creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United States, Asia and the Middle East.

Beginning with a 1906 gift that paved the way for the museum’s opening in 1923, the National Museum of Asian Art is a leading resource for visitors, students, and scholars in the United States and internationally. Its galleries, laboratories, archives, and library are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and are part of the world’s largest museum complex, which typically reports more than 27 million visits each year. The museum is free and open to the public 364 days a year, making its exhibitions, programs, learning opportunities and digital initiatives accessible to global audiences.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art welcomes Julian C.L. Cheng and Arthur R. Collins as new members of its board of trustees. The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents approved their appointment for four-year terms each, effective February 24, 2022. The 17-member Board of Regents, consisting of the Chief Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, three members of the United States Senate, three members of the United States House of Representatives, and nine citizens, is responsible for the administration of the Smithsonian.These new appointees join the board as the museum prepares for its centennial in 2023—a milestone celebration and a springboard for the museum’s transformative vision for its next century, which will broaden and deepen the museum’s impact and reach both on-site and online.

“As we mark our centennial in 2023, the passion and dedication of these talented new members will accelerate our efforts to tell new stories about our collections and share them in more accessible and compelling ways with a global audience,” said Chase F. Robinson, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the museum. “On behalf of my colleagues at the museum and across the Smithsonian, I’m delighted that Julian and Art are joining us in our work to foster understanding and celebrate Asian arts and cultures.”

“As chair of the board of trustees, I am thrilled to welcome these new members who bring both deep expertise and unique perspectives to our museum,” said Antoine van Agtmael on behalf of the board. “With their help, we can expand our engagement and impact with both local and international communities. The museum’s board now totals 26 members and is larger and more diverse than it has ever been.”

About the New Members

Julian C.L. Cheng

Cheng received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard in 1996. A partner with Warburg Pincus, he co-heads the firm’s business in China and is a member of the firm’s Executive Management Group. Before joining Warburg Pincus, Cheng worked in investment banking with Salomon Smith Barney and Bankers Trust. He is on the board of a number of public and private companies and is a trustee of St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire and an independent director of The Bank of East Asia, China.

“The National Museum of Asian Art is an important ally of communication, history, language, art and cultural exchange between the United States and Asia,” Cheng said. “Increased knowledge will foster mutual understanding and creativity for future generations.”

Arthur R. Collins

Collins is the founder and managing partner of theGROUP in Washington, D.C., and has over 30 years of experience advising corporate leaders, heads of state and their governments, non-profit executives and investors across a broad range of policy-related matters.

He serves as a member of the board of trustees of RLJ Lodging Trust and the board of directors of KB Home, as vice chair of the board of trustees of the Brookings Institution, and as chairman of the board of trustees of the Morehouse School of Medicine. He served as chairman of the board of trustees of Florida A&M University.

“I enthusiastically join my fellow trustees in effectively working to expand the reach of the museum to communities throughout the Washington area, our nation and around the globe, those which have yet to experience all that NMAA has to offer in the form of education, collaboration and cultural understanding,” Collins said.

About the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting and interpreting exemplary works of art. It houses exceptional collections of Asian art, with more than 45,000 objects dating from the Neolithic period to today. Renowned and iconic objects originate from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the ancient Near East and the Islamic world. The museum’s Freer Gallery of Art also holds a significant group of American works of art largely dating to the late 19th century. It boasts the world’s largest collection of diverse works by James McNeill Whistler, including the famed Peacock Room. The National Museum of Asian Art is dedicated to increasing understanding of the arts of Asia through a broad portfolio of exhibitions, publications, conservation, research and education.