Alex Nyerges has been the director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts since 2006. He has led the transformation of the VMFA into an epicenter for great art, attracting over 500,000 visitors annually. Nyerges previously served as director and chief executive officer of Dayton Art Institute from 1992 to 2006, a position he also held at the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Florida DeLand Museum of Art. He has curated and organized exhibitions, including “Edward Weston: A Photographer’s Love of Life,” 2004; “Glory of the Silk Road: Art from Ancient China,” 2003; “In Praise of Nature: Ansel Adams and Photographers of the American West,” 1998; and “Eternal China: Treasures from Ancient Xi’an,” 1998. He is working on an exhibition and catalogue about Hungarian-American photographers titled “American, Born Hungary” that will open in 2019 and travel internationally. Nyerges is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors and the French American Museum Exchange. He was awarded the Chairman’s Award by the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and the rank of Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Nyerges received an MA in museum studies and BA in anthropology/archaeology and American civilization from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.