Joseph Ketner, director of the Rose Art Museum for the past seven years, officially resigned from the position last Friday to become the chief curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Ketner called the Milwaukee job "the opportunity of a lifetime."

"I have very mixed emotions," Ketner said of his resignation. "I am very attached to the [Rose Art] institution. We have done a lot of good things at the Rose, and we are in the middle of some very big projects, including the expansion with [architect] Shigeru Ban and a major collection restructuring."

Provost Marty Krauss said she had not yet formed a search committee to find Ketner's replacement, but she will be working to establish one this week.

Ketner believes that because of the museum's expansion of exhibition space and the increasing range of its collection, the Rose will be able to attract a pool of desirable candidates from the arts community. Ketner said he has already been approached by many people who are interested in the position.

Ketner, who said he was recruited directly by the Milwaukee Art Museum for the position, will begin working there this summer in the institution's new, expanded facility slated to open this May. The museum's collection includes over 20,000 works ranging from classical pieces to modern art.

"While we are sorry to see him depart, we are thrilled about this wonderful career opportunity for Joe and his family," President Jehuda Reinharz said in a recent press release. "He has helped make the Rose a thriving, vibrant institution that is an integral part of the University and the community at large."

Since being named the Henry and Lois Foster Director of the Rose in 1998, Ketner, 49, has helped turn the museum into one of the premiere institutions for the display of modern and contemporary art. He has expanded exhibition programming and arts-related lectures for the Brandeis and greater Boston communities.

Working with the Student Committee to the Rose Art Museum (SCRAM), Ketner helped incorporate the museum into the campus social life through bi-annual parties, tours of the museum's vault and gallery talks.

"[Ketner] has greatly enriched the undergraduate arts community here at Brandeis by both allowing and encouraging me to plan events with one goal in mind: having fun," said Helene Lowenfels '05, chair of SCRAM for the past three years.

Ketner has guided the museum's two-phase expansion project to improve the quality of the museum's collection, which commenced with the addition of the Graham Gund-designed Lois Foster Wing in 2001. The second addition, designed by Ban, is slated to open in fall 2007.

In 2002, he curated "Roxy Paine/Second Nature," which was named the year's Best Monographic Museum Show by the Boston chapter of the International Association of Art Critics.

"Through his leadership, Joe [Ketner] made the Rose one of the most innovative, provocative, and rewarding features of life at Brandeis-not just in the arts," said Scott Edmiston, director of the office of the arts.

Edmiston said that during Ketner's tenure, "he was instrumental in opening an exciting new chapter in the arts at Brandeis."

According to Krauss' press release, Ketner worked as curator-registrar at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana before coming to Brandeis. From 1992 to 1998, he served as curator and then as the director of the Washington University in St. Louis' Gallery of Art. Ketner received bachelor's and master's degrees from Indiana University, where he specialized in 19th and 20th century European and American art.

"The administration has reaffirmed it's commitment to the Rose," Ketner said. "They are beginning to take the steps how to move forward. They don't want to lose the momentum... There is a resurgence of the arts on campus, and they eager to move forward.