Geovette E. Washington, Pitt’s chief legal officer, was elected chair of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh board of trustees at its June meeting.
Washington, who has been at Pitt since 2015, joined the Carnegie Museums board of trustees in 2017 and was named vice chair earlier this year. Prior to joining the University, she served as general counsel and senior policy advisor in the White House Office of Management and Budget and deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“I’m incredibly honored to have this opportunity to be an integral part of the Carnegie Museums story,” Washington said in a news release. “The four museums play such a vital role in our lives — In the education and inspiration of our children and the cultural vitality of our community. Now more than ever, we need the expansive view of the world that these world-class museums have to offer. I am excited to continue and build upon the good work and leadership of Bill Hunt.”
Washington succeeds William E. Hunt, president of The Elmhurst Group, who has chaired the board of trustees for the past seven years. She will be the first Black person to head the museums board.
The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh include two facilities in Oakland — the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History — along with the Carnegie Science Center and the Andy Warhol Museum on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
“Carnegie Museums has a rich history of dedicated volunteer leaders — Bill Hunt and Geovette Washington, among them — who have been instrumental to its development and growth,” said Steven Knapp, president and CEO of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. “I am grateful to Bill who, after six years of exceptional leadership, stayed on as chair for an extra year to help a new president guide our museums through an unprecedented crisis. And now, having worked with Geovette in her role as vice chair, I am confident that our forward momentum will continue under her leadership, and that we will benefit in countless ways from her wisdom and experience.”
Active in civic and professional organizations, Washington also is secretary of the International Women’s Forum of Pittsburgh and a member of the Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts Board of Advisors. She is also a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of The Links, Inc.