The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and Foundation has announced a new director and chief executive.
Mariet Westermann, who is currently the vice chancellor of NYU Abu Dhabi, will become the first woman to hold the position when she officially takes responsibility in June. She will take over from Richard Armstrong, who has held the position of director since 2008. Armstrong announced his retirement in July last year.
Westermann will be directing the foundation and its bellwether New York institution, as well as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She will also work closely with the directors of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Westermann has overseen NYU Abu Dhabi as vice chancellor, chief executive and professor of Arts and Humanities since 2019. She has supervised the institution’s academic, administrative, financial and operational affairs. Westermann was also a founder of NYU Abu Dhabi in her capacity as provost, a position she held between 2007 and 2010.
In her statement, Westermann reflected on her approach to overseeing the development of NYU Abu Dhabi, touching upon how the experience will inform her strategies as director and chief executive of the Guggenheim.
“Building and leading NYU Abu Dhabi in this dynamic crossroads of the world, with such diverse, talented, and driven colleagues and students, has been extraordinarily inspiring. I will take much of what I learnt along the way to the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation: A unique institution with a beautiful mission dedicated to modern and contemporary art in four distinctive museums on three continents,” Westermann says of her new role.
“Each of the museums exists to create opportunities for anyone to engage with the transformative and connective power of art and artists, from New York to Bilbao to Venice to Abu Dhabi.”
In her role as chief executive and director of the Guggenheim, Westermann will oversee the strategic direction of the institution’s network of museums and collections.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr Westermann to the Guggenheim,” says J Tomilson Hill, chair of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees. “We cast a very wide net and interviewed extensively to identify the right person for the Guggenheim at this time.”
The search process took six months, according to Hill, who says the board of trustees undertook a “values-based approach”, identifying the qualities necessary in a new director.
“We evaluated each candidate based on those attributes,” he says. “Dr Westermann brings a unique set of qualities and experiences to this critical role – a wide ranging world view, experience in navigating multiple stakeholders and critical issues across geographies, all rooted in a deeply held belief in scholarship, excellence, and the power of arts and culture to inspire and connect.”
Wendy Fisher, president of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees, said she was confident Westermann will lead the foundation to a more sustainable future and help open the institution’s doors to a wider audience.
“From Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic building on Fifth Avenue, the Guggenheim has always sought to provoke new ways of thinking about and interacting with art, and Dr Westermann’s impressive background makes her uniquely qualified to do just that,” Fisher says.
“She brings to the table myriad accomplishments in art historical scholarship, the respect of her peers, experience serving as a leader of an international organisation and a fundamental belief in the transformative power of art. I look forward to working closely with her.”
Westermann’s has previously served as executive vice president at the Mellon Foundation and as a faculty member and Director at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. She was associate director of Research and Academic Programs at the Clark Art Institute and a faculty member at Rutgers University.
Westermann is a graduate of Williams College and has received masters and PhD degrees in the History of Art from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. She has earned grants, fellowships and honours from the Centre for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Clark Art Institute, College Art Association, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Endowment for the Humanities and American Philosophical Society.
Westermann is an expert in Dutch art and has led numerous projects in the field as an academic and curator. She has published books, articles and essays on Dutch art and artists, as well as studies on the future of higher education. She was the lead curator of the exhibition Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt, which was shown at the Denver Art Museum and The Newark Museum. She also wrote the catalogue of the exhibition, which was published in 2001.
In 2010, she co-hosted Art Museums Here and Now on behalf of the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute. The conference with Philippe de Montebello, former director of Metropolitan Museum of Art, addressed the necessity of building art museums in countries that have not yet got such institutions or reinventing them to cater for their public.
Westermann was among those who organised Reframing Museums in 2020. The international conference, held in partnership between NYU Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi, examined the future of museums.
Westermann also holds a position on the boards of Aliph Foundation (The International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas), the Educational Testing Service and the Rijksmuseum. She is the chair of the Scholar Rescue Fund of the Institute of International Education. Locally, she is a board member of AmCham Abu Dhabi and the US-UAE Business Council.
“I have been blessed with wonderful experiences as an art historian, global educator, curator, philanthropist and academic leader,” Westermann says. “The kind of complexity and high aspiration that have been so motivating to me in these prior roles has prepared me to help the Guggenheim realise its full potential as a constellation of museums united in one mission and grounded fully in their local environments and communities.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
The Lowdown
Us
Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
Asia Cup 2018 final
Who: India v Bangladesh
When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium
Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
the pledge
I pledge to uphold the duty of tolerance
I pledge to take a first stand against hate and injustice
I pledge to respect and accept people whose abilities, beliefs and culture are different from my own
I pledge to wish for others what I wish for myself
I pledge to live in harmony with my community
I pledge to always be open to dialogue and forgiveness
I pledge to do my part to create peace for all
I pledge to exercise benevolence and choose kindness in all my dealings with my community
I pledge to always stand up for these values: Zayed's values for tolerance and human fraternity
The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Fixtures:
Thursday:
Hatta v Al Jazira, 4.55pm
Al Wasl v Dibba, 7.45pm
Friday:
Al Dhafra v Al Nasr, 5.05pm
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai v Al Wahda, 7.45pm
Saturday:
Ajman v Emirates, 4.55pm
Al Ain v Sharjah, 7.45pm
Bawaal%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nitesh%20Tiwari%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Varun%20Dhawan%2C%20Janhvi%20Kapoor%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Series information
Pakistan v Dubai
First Test, Dubai International Stadium
Sun Oct 6 to Thu Oct 11
Second Test, Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tue Oct 16 to Sat Oct 20
Play starts at 10am each day
Teams
Pakistan
1 Mohammed Hafeez, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Babar Azam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed, 8 Bilal Asif, 9 Yasir Shah, 10, Mohammed Abbas, 11 Wahab Riaz or Mir Hamza
Australia
1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Mitchell Marsh, 5 Travis Head, 6 Marnus Labuschagne, 7 Tim Paine, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jon Holland
SRI LANKS ODI SQUAD
Perera (capt), Mendis, Gunathilaka, de Silva, Nissanka, Shanaka, Bandara, Hasaranga, Udana, Dananjaya, Dickwella, Chameera, Mendis, Fernando, Sandakan, Karunaratne, Fernando, Fernando.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The specs
The specs: 2019 Audi Q8
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 340hp @ 3,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
