Timothy P. Whalen: “Conservation is a Team Effort”
Timothy P. Whalen explores the various challenges facing conservation practices worldwide, specifically regarding education, philanthropy, and governmental support.
Whalen is the third director of the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), a position he has held since December 1998. He became the senior program officer at the Getty Foundation overseeing the Foundation’s conservation grant-making activities in 1991. His career at the Getty dates to 1983 when he was appointed assistant director of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (now Getty Research Institute), before he assumed the role of associate director of the Getty Building Program. Whalen is a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a member of the international advisory board of studies for the Courtauld Institute of Art’s MA program in the conservation of wall paintings, and a former member of the United States National Commission to UNESCO. A California native, he holds a BA in art history as well as an MA in museum studies and art history from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.