Jean Sutherland Boggs

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Jean Sutherland Boggs : biography

11 June 1922 –

Jean Sutherland Boggs, (born June 11, 1922) is a Canadian academic, art historian, and civil servant.

Born in Negritos, Peru, an alumna of Alma College (St. Thomas, Ontario) http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/page_attachments/Library/1/1750595_Alma_College_ENG.pdf Boggs would later receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Trinity College in 1942. From 1942 to 1944, she was an education secretary for the Art Association of Montreal (today known as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) She received a A.M. in 1946 and a Ph.D. in 1953 from Radcliffe College.

In 1948, she joined the faculty of Skidmore College as an assistant professor. From 1949 to 1952, she was an assistant professor at Mount Holyoke College. From 1954 to 1962, she was an assistant and associate professor at the University of California. In 1962, she was appointed curator for the Art Gallery of Toronto. In 1964, she was appointed Steinberg Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis.

In 1966, she was appointed the first female and fifth director of the National Gallery of Canada and served in this position until 1976. From 1976 to 1979, she was a Professor of Fine Arts at Harvard University. From 1978 to 1982, she was the director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She was chair and chief executive officer of the Canada Museums Construction Corporation from 1982 to 1985, where she was involved with the construction of both a custom-built National Gallery building and the unique Canadian Museum of Civilization.

From 1991 to 1993, she was a senior advisor for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As an art historian, she has written books about the life of Edgar Degas, including Portraits By Degas (1962).

Honours

In 1973, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "in recognition of her scholarship and the vision and energy she has displayed in developing the collection and the services of the Gallery". She was promoted to Companion in 1992. In 1979 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from the University of Saskatchewan. In 2000 she was awarded an honorary degree from Concordia University. Additionally, she received an honorary degree from York University in fall 1976.