New Getty President Is Known for Integrity

Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust have put their faith in the organization’s newly named president, James N. Wood, who revived the Art Institute of Chicago and who observers say is a shrewd, ethically sound leader, reports the Los Angeles Times.

One observer, Stephanie Barron, chief curator of modern and contemporary art at the L.A. County Museum of Art, calls Mr. Wood “a brilliant hire.”

He will assume leadership at the Getty during a difficult time for the organization, as it navigates through controversy surrounding the return of antiquities to Italy and Greece and tries to recover after more than a dozen resignations during the past two years. Among the more prominent departures was that of Mr. Wood’s predecessor, Barry Munitz, who resigned in February during an investigation into his spending and travel.

The state attorney general decided not to prosecute the case but appointed a monitor to oversee the trust until 2008, the Times reports.