Lynda Roscoe Hartigan to depart after more than 20 years of service to lead the Smithsonian American Art Museum

SALEM, MA – The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) announces that Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO, will step down from her role effective June 30, 2026, following more than 20 years of transformative leadership. Hartigan, who has held ascending roles of Chief Curator, Deputy Director and Executive Director and CEO at PEM, has been appointed as The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C.

Hartigan’s tenure at PEM has been marked by extraordinary institutional growth and innovation. She established the museum’s world-class exhibition program and led a multi-year transformation of its collection galleries, while initiating major new areas of focus, including photography, contemporary art, American art and global fashion. She greatly expanded PEM’s multidisciplinary thought leadership and philanthropic support, and led the development and implementation of the museum’s 5-year strategic plan, ensuring the museum remains a forward-looking and influential force in the field.

Equally important, Hartigan redefined the PEM visitor experience and cultivated a deeply collaborative, supportive workplace culture — making PEM more dynamic, welcoming and engaging as a human-centered museum. Through this work, she has positioned PEM as both a global cultural leader and a vital community anchor, advancing its mission to create thought-provoking experiences that connect people across time, place and perspectives.

Jennifer Borggaard, Chair of PEM’s Board of Trustees, noted both the significance of Hartigan’s leadership and the pride the institution feels in her appointment to a national role: “Lynda has been an inspiring change agent whose ability to gather people around art, experiences and multidisciplinary ideas has expanded PEM’s leadership in creativity, innovation and the visitor experience. We will miss her greatly, and we are proud that she will now bring her visionary energy to SAAM and the Smithsonian, our country’s national cultural complex.” 

PEM’s Board of Trustees has appointed Kurt Steinberg, PEM’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of Collection Services, to serve as PEM’s Acting Executive Director and CEO beginning July 1, 2026. Steinberg brings deep institutional knowledge and a steady record of leadership, ensuring continuity as the museum advances its strategic priorities. 

PEM enters this transition from a position of strength, with its strategic plan actively underway and a talented team of staff and volunteers in place. The board will launch a search for the museum’s next leader in the coming months. Hartigan will continue in her role through June 30, the end of PEM’s fiscal year, working closely with board leadership and staff to support a smooth and thoughtful transition.

Hartigan reflects, “I am filled with profound gratitude for the vibrant community of staff, supporters and partners who breathe life into this institution every day. Together, we have ensured the nation’s oldest continually operating museum remains a site of vitality and inquiry, dedicated to celebrating outstanding creativity and the collective power of art, culture and ideas. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside you to broaden perspectives and transform lives — welcoming visitors from around the world and our own backyard to celebrate the infinite wonder of the human experience.”

ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world. We build, steward and share our superlative collection, which includes African, American, Asian Export, Chinese, contemporary, Japanese, Korean, maritime, Native American, Oceanic and South Asian art, as well as architecture, fashion and textiles, photography, natural history and one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM offers a varied and unique visitor experience, with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. The museum’s campus, which offers numerous gardens and green spaces, is an accredited arboretum and features more than a dozen noted historic structures, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese home that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture in the United States.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Marketing and Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 617-259-6722