Francesca Casadio Appointed John E. and Louise Bryson Director of the Getty Conservation Institute

The J. Paul Getty Trust has appointed Francesca Casadio as the next John E. and Louise Bryson Director of the Getty Conservation Institute. Casadio currently serves as vice president and Grainger Executive Director of Conservation and Science at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Casadio will oversee the Getty Conservation Institute, one of the four programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust. The Institute leads efforts to preserve and advance cultural heritage through scientific research, field projects, education, and knowledge sharing. Through global partnerships and expertise across disciplines, the Institute addresses built heritage, collections, and heritage science, and develops open-access tools and resources for conservation professionals.

Reporting to Getty President and CEO Katherine E. Fleming, Casadio will be responsible for the Institute's strategic vision, initiating and implementing key initiatives and research to continue to improve cultural heritage conservation practice globally. She will begin at Getty in early fall 2026.

“We are thrilled to welcome Francesca to Getty to lead the Getty Conservation Institute,” said Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. “She has a vast amount of experience, including extensive international collaboration, providing a unique lens that will be invaluable as the Institute continues to shape the field of conservation.”

Casadio brings over two decades of experience to the role and has been at the Art Institute of Chicago since 2003. She established their scientific research laboratory, is leading the design of the $50M Grainger Center for Conservation and Science and is a founding member and co-director of the Northwestern University/Art Institute of Chicago Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts. Casadio will also be returning to Getty, having started her career in the United States as a graduate intern in historic building preservation at the Getty Conservation Institute in 2002.

“I am proud to join Getty. With its unmatched combination of interdisciplinary research, collections and grantmaking, the Institute is uniquely positioned to demonstrate how heritage conservation is an engine of public value that benefits everyone,” said Francesca Casadio. “Many people might think conservation is just something that happens before they encounter an iconic work like Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ or visit a landmark site with their friends or family, but conservation is what makes that encounter possible.”

Casadio holds PhD and MS degrees in chemistry from the University of Milan, Italy, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne University in Paris in 2019.