Neil MacGregor may have ruled himself out of contention for the directorship of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it is Thomas Campbell, another British-born museums man, who has been chosen as Philippe de Montebello's successor.
The announcement ends months of speculation on who might take the reins at the USA's most important museum.
Here is the full press release, courtesy of Culture Grrl. And here is the New York Times's piece.
Though he is evidently well-liked by colleagues and has a strong intellectual background, his administrative experience is relatively slender – a bold choice, then, by the Met's trustees, who must have a great deal of confidence in his ability to step up to one of the biggest cultural jobs around.
Campbell, 46, was born in Cambridge and studied at Oxford and the Courtauld. His area of scholarship is European textiles, and he has worked at the Metropolitan Museum since 1995.
He takes up the post on January 1.
