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PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Board of Trustees of the Heard Museum recently approved the appointment of Dr. Letitia Chambers as the museum’s new director.

She will assume her duties in January, succeeding Frank Goodyear, who is retiring after 10 years at the Heard’s helm.

Chambers is of Cherokee descent and the appointment marks the first time that the Heard Museum’s top position has been held by a person of American Indian heritage. Chambers is also the only woman other than the museum’s founder, Maie Bartlett Heard, to lead the institution.

She has held key positions on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards of directors, among them several that relate to the constituencies most vital to the Heard Museum. She served for a decade on the board of the Institute of American Indian Arts and Culture (IAIA), which includes both a college and a contemporary Indian art museum in Santa Fe. She is now active as a founding director of the new Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, an organization that enjoys major support from the Ford Foundation. In these and in related roles, she has endeavored to preserve and enhance Indian arts and cultures, improve educational opportunities for Indian students and broaden the public’s appreciation for Native contributions to American civilization and to the world at large.

Chambers holds a doctorate in educational research and curriculum development from Oklahoma State University.