Art Institute of Chicago Elects New Chairman of Board of Trustees

The Art Institute of Chicago announces the election of Robert M. Levy as the organization's new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Levy will replace Thomas J. Pritzker as the leader of the governing body of both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Institute's Museum. Pritzker, who has served for eight years as Chairman, has been a trustee of the Art Institute since 1988 and will remain on the Board. Levy, who has been a trustee of the Art Institute since 2009, will take over as Chair when Pritzker's term ends in November.

"I am pleased to have played a role in the exceptional developments at the Art Institute during my time as Chairman," said Pritzker. "I am gratified that both branches of the Art Institute are in good financial health and stewarded by strong leaders, and I look forward to seeing the Museum and the School flourish during Bob's tenure."

"Tom Pritzker has seen the Art Institute through a period of tremendous growth and financial success," said Levy. "During the past eight years, attendance at the School has grown to record levels, and the Museum had many major milestones, including opening the critically acclaimed Modern Wing to showcase 20th- and 21st-century art. Tom and the Board of Trustees have laid the foundation for the Art Institute's future, and I am excited to continue to demonstrate how, well into our second century, we are a vibrant organization that is ahead of its time."

Under Pritzker's leadership, the Art Institute raised more than $400 million for the design, construction, and operation of the Renzo Piano-designed Modern Wing, and the School of the Art Institute received the largest donations in its history, including $5 million from the artist LeRoy Neiman to fund the School's first student center. Such philanthropic support has been critical to the Art Institute's fiscal health; the Museum and the School posted a consolidated surplus of $2.5 million in the previous fiscal year and have had operating surpluses in eight of the last nine fiscal years.

Pritzker also oversaw leadership transitions at both the Museum and the School. In 2010, Walter Massey was named President of the School, and Elissa Tenny became Provost. The following year, Douglas Druick was selected as President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Museum.

Born and raised in Chicago, Pritzker is Chairman and CEO of The Pritzker Organization. He is also Executive Chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and on the Board of Directors of Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD. Outside of business, Pritzker is Chairman of the Board of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Center for Strategic & International Studies. He is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and has organized the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium, a collaborative research effort into the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders.

Levy is Partner, Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer for U.S. Equities at Harris Associates L.P., an investment firm with approximately $125 billion in assets under management. He has been with the firm since 1985. He earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1972 and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1974.

Levy became a Vice Chair of the Board in 2010, and serves on many Art Institute Board committees. He and his wife, Diane, are naming donors of the Diane v.S. and Robert M. Levy Gallery in the Modern Wing. In 2013, Levy assumed the role of Chairman of the Sustaining Fellows, the Museum's upper level membership group, where he has been actively involved in building philanthropic support for the Museum.

Elsewhere, Levy serves as a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves on the Executive, Budget and Finance, Development, and Compensation committees. He chairs the Investment Board of the University of Pennsylvania and is the vice chairman of the board of overseers at Penn's Wharton School of Business. Also at Penn, the Levys have endowed the position of the Diane v.S. and Robert M. Levy University Professorship and established the Diane v.S. and Robert M. Levy Social Impact Fund, and the Diane v.S. and Robert M. Levy Endowed Fellowship Fund. They also support Penn's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.