Nova Southeastern University Names William Stanton as Interim Executive Director of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla., June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nova Southeastern University (NSU) announces the appointment of William "Bill" Stanton to the position of interim executive director of the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale. Stanton begins serving the museum effective immediately. Fort Lauderdale's leading art destination, the museum became a division of Nova Southeastern University in 2008.

"We are pleased to bring someone to the museum with Bill Stanton's business acumen, appreciation for the arts, and involvement in the community," said George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., president of Nova Southeastern University. "Bill serves on various cultural and non-profit boards, and as a former member of the museum's board of governors, he is intimately familiar with the museum's operations. He brings a wealth of experience managing large properties for various international hotel brands and we are confident that he will take the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale to new heights."

Stanton is active in the South Florida community serving as chairman of the board of directors of the Bonnet House, co-chair of the Broward Workshop's Tourism Committee, a board member for the American Red Cross Broward County and for Symphony of the Americas, among others. In addition, he served on the 2010 South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, as co-chair of a Cultural Tourism Task Force for the Broward 2020 Cultural Committee, a Broward County United Way Campaign Cabinet member, and a member of the board of directors for Crime Stoppers of Broward County.

"I am very excited to take on the responsibility of leading the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale," said Stanton. "The museum is one of South Florida's most important cultural destinations."

Irvin Lippman recently announced his retirement after serving as the museum's executive director, a post he held for nine years. During his tenure the museum merged with Nova Southeastern University, opened the AutoNation Academy of Art and Design, and hosted hundreds of thousands of visitors to such exhibits as: Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Offering of the Angels: Old Master Paintings and Tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery, and the newly unveiled SHARK exhibit, which is currently on display at the museum. "I was told some time ago that it was important to take a job that had the greatest potential in a place I want to live. Both have been true for me in Fort Lauderdale," said Lippman.

"Certainly one of the major additions to the university in recent years is the merger with the museum," said Hanbury.  "Irvin Lippman has helped shape the museum as a creative extension of the university.  We are grateful for his extraordinary tenure as executive director."  

For more information on the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, visit: www.moafl.org

About the SHARK Exhibit

Long before humans first appeared on Earth, sharks were swimming the seas. They predate dinosaurs by about 200 million years and were revered by ancient human societies as gods. Sharks come in all shapes and sizes. There are angel sharks, basking sharks, blues sharks, bull sharks, gray sharks, lemon sharks, sleeper sharks, and tiger sharks, among many other varieties. Not only are they found in every ocean of the world, but in many rivers and lakes as well. This major exhibition has been organized by the Museum of Art in association with Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center.

It is guest curated by acclaimed wildlife artist, author and environmentalist Richard Ellis, who is working to bring together both art and science in documenting the world's never-ending fascination with these celebrated creatures of the sea. In addition to drawings of all the known varieties of sharks in the world, the exhibition contains photographs, sculptures, and video as well as a section devoted to the sensational impact of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws. In recent years, attention has turned to protecting the habitats of these magnificent animals and the exhibition documents advances made in those areas as well, including the July 2011 banning of all commercial shark fishing by the island nation of the Bahamas.

About the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale

Since its founding in 1958, the Museum of Art I Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University, has served our growing community as a gathering place for friends and neighbors, a lifelong learning center for children and adults, and as a dynamic hub for the cultural life of Broward County. Housed since 1986 in a distinguished modernist building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the Museum is South Florida's premier destination for quality exhibitions and programs that encompass every facet of civilization's visual history. During the past five years, more than 1.5 million visitors have enjoyed remarkable exhibitions like Cradle of Christianity, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, and American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell. In 2008, the Museum became part of Nova Southeastern University, the eighth-largest not-for-profit independent institution in the nation, to form an expanded arts campus that joins the school's Davie location with the Museum's downtown Fort Lauderdale address. The Museum of Art is located at One East Las Olas Boulevard at Andrews Avenue. For additional information visit: www.moafl.org.

About Nova Southeastern University

Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 28,000 students and is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate's, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.  Classified as a research university with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie's Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University's significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement.   For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.

SOURCE Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale - Nova Southeastern University