Penn Museum Director: Richard Leventhal

Dr. Richard M. Leventhal, an internationally recognized scholar in Mesoamerican studies, has been named the Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi announced recently. 

"I am delighted that Richard will be joining us," said Dr. Rodin. "His proven leadership and bold vision for the future will help strengthen the Museum's three-fold mission of education, research and the preservation of cultural artifacts from around the world."

Currently, Dr. Leventhal is president and chief executive officer of the School of American Research, (SAR) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Before going to SAR in 2001, he served as director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, where he was associate professor of anthropology from 1993 to 2001. Dr. Leventhal graduated with a B.A. in anthropology from Harvard University.  He earned his Ph.D. in anthropology at Harvard in 1979.

Dr. Leventhal has directed many excavations and research projects focused on the civilization and culture of the ancient Maya. He has written numerous monographs, books, reports and articles. His most recent publication is Archaeology in the Mediterranean: The Present State and Future Scope of a Discipline, which he co-edited with John Papadoupoulos, professor of classics at UCLA.

Dr. Leventhal has consulted or curated at the National Museum of Belize, the Boston Museum of Science, and the Peabody Museum and Fogg Museum at Harvard.

"Richard emerged as the most qualified candidate to lead the Penn Museum, one of the top anthropological and archaeological museums in the country," said Dr. Barchi. "His emphasis on the use of technology and the Internet as outreach tools will help the Penn Museum reach new audiences in the scholarly community and the general public." 

In his new position, Dr. Leventhal succeeds Dr. Jeremy A. Sabloff, who announced his intention to step down from the directorship at the completion of ten years of service June 30.  Under his leadership, the Penn Museum raised $65 million, including $17 million to build the Mainwaring Wing for collections storage and study, a state-of-the-art facility for the maintenance of at-risk artifacts and for enhanced scholarly study.

During Dr. Sabloff's tenure, the Museum's budget nearly doubled, from $8.2 million in 1995 to nearly $16 million in 2003, while non-curatorial staff increased substantially. Their endowment has grown from just under $35 million in 1996 to more than $52 million in 2003.