News Release: 2 October 2000

National Gallery of Art Trustees Elect Robert F. Erburu as Chairman and Appoint Victoria P. Sant as New Trustee, as Alexander M. Laughlin Retires

Washington, DC,--28 September - Following a meeting of the trustees of the National Gallery of Art on September 28, 2000, Robert H. Smith, president of the Gallery, announced that Robert F. Erburu, retired chairman and chief executive officer, The Times Mirror Company, Los Angeles, was elected chairman of the board, succeeding retiring chairman Alexander M. Laughlin. At the same meeting, philanthropist Victoria P. Sant of Washington, DC, was elected as a new trustee to succeed Mr. Laughlin.

Mr. Smith expressed his "gratefulness on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees for Mr. Laughlin's contributions to the Gallery for seventeen years." Mr. Laughlin became chairman in 1997 and has been a member of the board since 1987. From 1983 to 1987 he was a member of the Trustees' Council, which he served as chairman (1985-1987) and vice chairman (1983-1985). He and his wife Judith also have been members of the Gallery's 50th Anniversary Gift Committee, the Patrons' Permanent Fund, and The Circle of the National Gallery of Art. The Laughlins reside in New York City.

Robert F. Erburu has been a member of the Gallery's Board of Trustees since 1993 and a member of the Trustees' Council from 1985 to 1993. He and his wife Lois, who reside in Los Angeles, have been members of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art since 1989. Before joining Times Mirror in 1961, he was an attorney. Among his many civic endeavors, Mr. Erburu is currently chairman of the board of the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. He is Chairman Emeritus of The J. Paul Getty Trust, an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution, and a trustee of five charitable foundations, including The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The Ahmanson Foundation.

Mrs. Sant was a National Gallery of Art docent from 1983 to 1985. She and her husband Roger Sant have been members of The Circle of the National Gallery of Art and the Collectors Committee. They moved from Palo Alto, California, to Washington, DC, in 1974, where she began work on behalf of global population issues. In 1982 they co-founded what are now known as The Summit Foundation and The Summit Fund of Washington. As president of both organizations, Mrs. Sant oversees their local and international grantmaking in the fields of population and the environment. Among Mrs. Sant's current board memberships are Stanford University; The Phillips Collection, Washington; WETA-TV; The Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region (former vice chair); The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; The DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (vice chair); Population Action International (vice chair); and the Reproductive Research Institute.

The members of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Art are as follows: The Chief Justice of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Robert F. Erburu, Julian Ganz, Jr., David O. Maxwell, Victoria P. Sant, and Robert H. Smith. Alexander M. Laughlin will become Trustee Emeritus and Ruth Carter Stevenson is Trustee Emerita.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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