Rod Bigelow has served as executive director of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art since 2013, guiding all facets of the museum’s development and reflecting his more than twenty years of experience in management of arts and cultural institutions. Joining Crystal Bridges in 2010 as the deputy director of operations and administration, he led the museum’s strategic planning process in organizational and policy development, as well as construction activities prior to the museum’s opening in November 2011. Under Bigelow’s direction the permanent collection continues to grow, in addition to hosting acclaimed temporary exhibitions, including the museum’s own groundbreaking “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now.” Previously, Bigelow was chief operating officer at the Toledo Museum of Art and director of administrative and financial services at The Art Institute of Seattle, and spent eight years at the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington. In 2012, he completed the Museum Leadership Institute sponsored by the Getty and Claremont Graduate University. He holds an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.