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The Board of Trustees of the Bruce Museum, Connecticut’s premier institution of art and science, has announced that Robert Wolterstorff, the Susan E. Lynch Executive Director and CEO of the Bruce Museum, will be leaving his role on June 30, 2024. Mr. Wolterstorff joined the Bruce in June 2019 and assumed responsibility for the New Bruce Capital Campaign with the goal of more than doubling the size of the museum with a 43,000-square-foot addition. Under his leadership, the Museum finished the $68 million campaign and completed construction of the addition. Mr. Wolterstorff added important promised or loaned art collections to the Museum including the extraordinary Impressionist and Modern art in the William L. Richter Gallery and the David Hockney collection on loan from Roy B. and Edith J. Simpson on display in the Blavatnik Family Gallery. The new Bruce opened in April 2023 and has been heralded as a “true gem” in Greenwich and the broader tri-state area. 

The Board of Trustees of the Bruce Museum has a plan in place to ensure a smooth transition with an Interim Executive Director from the Board and has immediately begun a search for a new Executive Director/CEO. 

Mr. Wolterstorff noted, “With the new building up and running, growing pains being thoughtfully addressed, new fiscal leadership in place, and the strategic plan providing a road map for the future, I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do. It is a good moment for me to step away.”  

Simone McEntire and Bill Deutsch, Co-Chairs of the Bruce Museum Board of Trustees added, “We are sure everyone joins us in our appreciation for all that Robert has done to launch the new Bruce and in our best wishes for the next step in his career. Robert has made numerous contributions to the New Bruce for which we are grateful.”

Separately, the Bruce Museum announced the appointment of Jonathan Rohner as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective immediately. In this role, Mr. Rohner will be responsible for all operations of the Museum including Finance, IT/Systems, Communications including marketing, public relations, and social media, Human Resources, as well as the Security, Facilities, Retail, and Café operations of the Museum. Mr. Rohner will serve as co-leader of the Museum alongside the Executive Director and report directly to the Bruce Museum Board of Trustees. 

Mr. Rohner comes to the Bruce Museum from the Yale Peabody Museum/Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) in New Haven, CT where he was Director of Finance and Administration since 2016. Prior to Yale Peabody, he served as the Finance and Administration Manager for the Yale School of Art and the Business Manager for the Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre.

Mr. Rohner graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He received a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Columbia University. Jonathan has worked in museums and cultural organizations his entire career and has held roles of increasing responsibility in finance, grants, digital media, and education at distinguished museums including the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, the Frick Collection, and the National Gallery of Art.