The J. Paul Getty Trust announced Tuesday that Francesca Casadio has been appointed director of the Getty Conservation Institute.
Casadio, who currently serves as vice president and Grainger Executive Director of Conservation and Science at the Art Institute of Chicago, will assume the position in early fall. She succeeds in leading the Getty Conservation Institute, one of the four programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust, according to officials.
The institute works internationally to preserve cultural heritage through scientific research, field projects, education and conservation training.
In her new role, Casadio will oversee the institute’s strategic direction and research initiatives aimed at advancing conservation practices worldwide, officials said. She will report to Getty President and CEO Katherine E. Fleming.
“We are thrilled to welcome Francesca to Getty to lead the Getty Conservation Institute,” Fleming said in a statement. “She has a vast amount of experience, including extensive international collaboration, providing a unique lens that will be invaluable as the Institute continues to shape the field of conservation.”
Casadio has worked at the Art Institute of Chicago since 2003, where she established the museum’s scientific research laboratory and has led development of the Grainger Center for Conservation and Science. She is also a founding member and co-director of the Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts.
The appointment marks a return to Getty for Casadio, who began her U.S. career in 2002 as a graduate intern in historic building preservation at the Getty Conservation Institute.
“I am proud to join Getty,” Casadio said. “With its unmatched combination of interdisciplinary research, collections and grantmaking, the Institute is uniquely positioned to demonstrate how heritage conservation is an engine of public value that benefits everyone.”
Casadio holds master’s and doctoral degrees in chemistry from the University of Milan in Italy and received an honorary doctorate from Sorbonne University in Paris in 2019.