Dean At Yale To Head U-M Art Museum

Dean At Yale To Head U-M Art Museum

Charles H. Sawyer To Begin Duties Here With Second Semester

Charles H. Sawyer, dean of Yale University’s School of Architecture and Design since 1947, has been appointed director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, U-M President Harlan Hatcher announced yesterday.

The appointment becomes effective at the start of the second semester.

He succeeds Prof. Jean Paul Slusser, who retired last June.

Sawyer also has been appointed professor of art in the College of Architecture and Design at the U-M.

Is Former Curator

Prof. Sawyer is a graduate of Yale and did advanced work at Harvard. In 1940, he was appointed curator of the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Mass., his birthplace.

During World War II, he was assigned to a civil affairs unit and later transferred to the Office of Strategic Services. Following his discharge, he became assistant secretary of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas.

Prof. Sawyer is the author of “Art Instruction in Public Schools” and has been a regular contributor to American art publications.

Memberships Told

He is a trustee of the American Federation of Arts, and a member of the visiting committees in Fine Arts of Amherst, Andover, Harvard, Smith and the Rhode Island School of Design.

He was a member of the Executive Board of the New England Public Works of Art Project and a member of the Art Commission of Massachusetts.

The University of Michigan Museum of Art is essentially a teaching museum. Its exhibition galleries occupy the second floor of Alumni Memorial Hall.

Its responsibilities are said to be primarily to the students rather than to the general public and its purpose is to give students direct acquaintance with original works of art.