Dartmouth has extended the Hood Museum of Art’s leadership transition. John Stomberg will continue serving as director through early August while the national search for his successor continues.
Last October, the College announced that Stomberg would retire in June 2026 after leading the Hood for a decade. Instead, he will now remain director through Aug. 7. To aid in the transition, vice provost for academic and international affairs Barbara Will will begin serving as interim director on Aug. 3, overlapping with Stomberg during his final week.
Stomberg said his primary responsibility during the remainder of his tenure is helping transition the museum’s leadership to Will.
“I extended a few weeks to ensure a smooth transition to our interim director,” he wrote in an email to The Dartmouth. “This way we can overlap a little and work together on getting her up to speed on what the Hood has coming up this fall.”
Stomberg wrote that he will act as a “bridge” between Hood staff and Will, “providing insight as appropriate.” He added that Will is “deeply aware of the Hood and its programs,” and he will “mostly be familiarizing her with day-to-day logistics.”
During his decade as director, Stomberg oversaw the museum’s three-year, $50 million renovation and expansion, its 2019 reopening and the continued growth of its teaching mission. He is the longest-serving director in the museum’s 40 years since opening.
College officials said those accomplishments made maintaining continuity during the leadership transition a priority while the search continues.
“Searches at this level don’t run on a fixed calendar — bringing candidates to campus and coordinating visits takes time — so we extended the transition date to keep the museum’s leadership stable while the search runs its course,” Provost Santiago Schnell wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
Schnell said the College intentionally chose consistency over speed, describing the search as “active and deliberate.” He added that Will was selected as interim director because she offers “sound academic judgment with deep institutional experience.”
Schnell also said Dartmouth intentionally appointed an interim director who is not a candidate for the permanent position, allowing the search to proceed independently.
Will wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that no operational changes are planned during the transition, and that her role is to ensure the museum continues serving its academic mission.
“Outgoing director John Stomberg has left the museum in excellent shape and I will be there to make sure the museum continues to serve our academic mission and the larger community,” she wrote. “No priorities or operations will be changing during this period.”
She added that Dartmouth is seeking a director “with vision and an ability to integrate our collections into all aspects of the academic enterprise — teaching, research, community life and enrichment.” The prospectus prepared by executive search firm Isaacson, Miller emphasizes the Hood’s role as an “intellectual and cultural anchor” of the College, and calls for a director who will “advance thoughtful stewardship and strategic growth” of the Hood’s holdings and strengthen “the museum’s integration into the curriculum and academic life across Dartmouth.”
All contacted administrators declined to provide additional details about the search’s status and timeline. Members of the search committee did not respond to request for comment about the search’s status, timeline and anticipated next steps, or declined to do so through a spokesperson, citing the ongoing search.
College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that it is “standard practice across the College” that active search committee members do not speak publicly about ongoing searches in order to protect “the integrity of the process and confidentiality for candidates.”
The final hiring decision rests with Schnell and will be informed by the search committee’s recommendation, she added.
Although the search continues, Stomberg said he believes the museum’s long-term strength rests not with any one director but with the institution itself.
“We directors, we come and we go, but the Museum carries on regardless,” he wrote. “The staff, the building, and the collections make the museum the great and wonderful place it is, to visit or to teach. None of that will change.”
Isabel Menna ‘29 is a reporter from Leavenworth, Wash., is majoring in economics and is a member of the Dartmouth Ski Patrol.
