Gail Harrity is a highly collaborative and accomplished leader. She is a mission-driven, can-do executive with a high level of energy, vigorous work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit.

As former President and Chief Operating Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she provided leadership oversight of the museum’s fundraising and business activities for over two decades. She played a central role in strategic planning efforts and implemented numerous programs to increase attendance, enhance visitor experience and provide global digital access to the museum’s collection of over 240,000 works of art. She led the development and construction of the museum’s comprehensive, multi-phased master plan to renovate, reorganize and expand its facilities. In 2021, she completed the museum’s Core Project, a major capital project and investment in infrastructure, in both technology and sustainability. The project’s interior and exterior renovations, designed by Frank Gehry, respect the architectural integrity of the landmark building, and breathe new life into its classical design.

Before joining the museum, Harrity built her career working at world-renown institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, where she was instrumental in planning and executing the strategic plan to construct the landmark Bilbao building designed by Frank Gehry that has become an icon of contemporary architecture.

Ms. Harrity is actively involved in consulting for several cultural institutions and serves as a board member of regional, national, and international organizations. She was the 2002 recipient of an Eisenhower Fellowship, an international program promoting the exchange of information, ideas, and perspectives among emerging leaders throughout the world and was the first Eisenhower Fellow to go to China. She received her BA from Boston University, and an MBA in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management.