{"id":66558,"date":"2013-06-28T11:00:44","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=66558"},"modified":"2018-10-10T13:14:53","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T17:14:53","slug":"caroline-baumann-87-appointment-as-cooper-hewitt-director-widely-praised-reported","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2013\/06\/28\/caroline-baumann-87-appointment-as-cooper-hewitt-director-widely-praised-reported\/","title":{"rendered":"Caroline Baumann ’87 appointed Cooper-Hewitt director"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Caroline<\/a>

Caroline Baumann ’87 is the director of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Photograph \u00a9 by Erin Baiano.<\/p><\/div>\n

The June appointment of Caroline Baumann ’87 as director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, was noted by scores of media outlets, including The New York Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>quotes Smithsonian secretary Wayne Clough, who praised Baumann for being “especially adept at forming substantive partnerships in New York, in Washington, across the nation and, indeed, around the world.”<\/p>\n

Since joining Cooper-Hewitt in 2001, Baumann has held many leadership positions at the museum, most recently as acting director.<\/p>\n

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In her mission overseeing the only U.S. museum devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design, Baumann has an immediate major challenge: overseeing extensive museum renovations and the reinstallation of its galleries. Now closed, the museum is set to reopen in fall 2014.<\/p>\n

She’s more than up for the job, says Clough. \u201cCaroline is passionate about design and reaching people \u2014 physically and digitally \u2014 with its lessons and insights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baumann displayed that passion for illuminating the world of design and art while at Bates. Earning honors in French and art, she devoted her honors thesis to an in-depth study of an exquisitely drawn 15th-century devotional book known as a Book of Hours, specifically one produced by the notably artistic Habert family of France.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She later earned a master’s degree in medieval art from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.<\/div>\n