Robert A. Mayer (born 1933; died December 2, 2008,

Scottsdale, AZ , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

) was the fifth director of the

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

(then George Eastman House) from 1981 to 1989. He also served as President of the Museum Association of New York from 1986 - 1988. Mayer made the disputed proposal to transfer the museum's collections of photographs, films and cameras to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

in Washington. The museum's trustees initially approved the transfer in 1985, but later rescinded the move and initiated a $10.5 million fund-raising campaign, of which $7.8 million was spent to construct a building designed to house the collections. Mayer then briefly served as the executive director of the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996 ...

. Between 1990 and 1997 he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at fir ...

, and then retired to Scottsdale, AZ.Remembering former Cleveland Institute of Art President Robert Mayer
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Publication

References

Photography critics Directors of George Eastman House 2008 deaths 1933 births {{US-academic-bio-stub