Fort Worth, TX, January 23, 2006 — The Board of Trustees of the Amon Carter Museum announced today that it has appointed Dr. Ron Tyler as director of the museum. Tyler, currently professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, will join the museum on June 1. Dr. Rick Stewart, who announced in the fall of 2004 his decision to step down as director of the museum to assume a curatorial role, will remain as acting director of the Carter until Tyler assumes his appointment.

Board President Ruth Carter Stevenson stated, “Our search for a professional to assume the role of director of the Amon Carter Museum has been rewarded. Ron’s early curatorial expertise was learned at the museum, and the board feels that his strengths in scholarship and leadership promise a great future for us. We welcome him back.”

Tyler began his museum career at the Carter when he became curator of history in 1969. During his tenure at the museum, he served as director of publications and assistant director for history and publications. In 1984 he was named assistant director for collections and programs, the position he held when he left in 1986 to join the faculty at the University of Texas.

“The Amon Carter Museum changed my life and essentially gave me my career,” Tyler said. “It was there that I had the opportunity to combine my loves of art, art history and teaching history through art. I am thrilled to be returning to the museum. The Carter has an astounding record of generating scholarship through its exhibitions and publications, and its education outreach programs that have been developed over the last few years are truly remarkable. I look forward to leading the museum in this tradition and to addressing the museum’s goals as outlined in its strategic plan.”

Tyler received his Ph.D. from Texas Christian University. In addition to his professional roles at the University of Texas at Austin, Tyler was director of the Texas State Historical Association from 1986 to 2005. He serves or has served on numerous boards, including the Conference of Southwest Foundations, Eastern National, and the Summerlee Foundation. He sat on both the planning and accessions committees for the Blanton Art Museum in Austin and is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Texas Institute of Letters. Tyler is editor and author of more than two dozen books, including Alfred Jacob Miller: Artist as Explorer; Nature’s Classics: John James Audubon’s Birds and Animals; Visions of America: Pioneer Artists in a New Land; Posada’s Mexico and The Image of America in Caricature and Cartoon. He is the recipient of numerous grants; has delivered many articles for publication in scholarly journals across the country; organized a number of major exhibitions, and lectured widely on exploration art, American and Western art and history, and John James Audubon in the United States as well as Mexico, Poland, Romania, and Australia.