Glenn D. Lowry

Glenn D. Lowry became the sixth director of The Museum of Modern Art in 1995. Leading a staff of over 750, Mr. Lowry continues the Museum’s legacy of enriching public life through exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and digital tools that challenge conventional ideas about modern and contemporary art and design, and initiatives that bring MoMA’s renowned collection and research to audiences worldwide.

Mr. Lowry has significantly developed the Museum’s holdings in all mediums, adding entire collections of contemporary drawings, Fluxus, and Conceptual art, along with the archives of Frank Lloyd Wright. A strong advocate of contemporary art and artists who are shaping current art practice, he has overseen recent acquisitions of works by Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Marcel Broodthaers, Paul Chan, Lygia Clark, David Hammons, Rachel Harrison, Zoe Leonard, Steve McQueen, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Mira Schendel, Richard Serra, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Cy Twombly, among others. Mr. Lowry’s major initiatives include the creation of a new curatorial department, Media and Performance Art, in 2009; the establishment of the Contemporary and Modern Art Perspectives in a Global Age Initiative (C-MAP), a research program for the exchange of knowledge and ideas between arts experts around the world in 2009; and the successful merger of The Museum of Modern Art and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS1), in 1999, all of which support the contemporary, global work that Mr. Lowry and the Museum have long championed. Mr. Lowry guided the Museum’s 2004 expansion and accompanying capital campaign—raising $450 million for the new building and over $450 million for the endowment and other related expenses—and is currently leading a renovation and expansion project that will offer visitors a more welcoming, participatory experience and unprecedented access to MoMA’s collection and programming.

Mr. Lowry lectures and writes in support of contemporary art, on the role of museums in society, and on other topics related to his research interests. He is a member of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s board of trustees, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the steering committee for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and a resident member of the American Philosophical Society. He also serves on the advisory council of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. In 2004, the French government honored Mr. Lowry with the title of Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Born in 1954 in New York City and raised in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Mr. Lowry is married to the former Susan Chambers, with whom he has three children. He received a BA (1976) magna cum laude from Williams College, an MA (1978) and a PhD (1982) in the history of art from Harvard University, and honorary degrees from the College of William and Mary and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.