William Griswold (museum director)

In his tenure, he has overseen initiatives to grow and diversify the museum's audience and address barriers present for members of underrepresented groups within its operations.

In the two instances that museum staff discovered the questionable provenance of one of its objects, he has personally led negotiations resulting in their return to their respective countries of origin.

[5] Griswold obtained a bachelor's degree in art history from Trinity College in Connecticut, where he also took classes on French and English literature.

[6] When Griswold became director of the Mia in 2005, the museum was nearing completion of a $113 million expansion designed by American architect Michael Graves.

[14][15] He oversaw the installation of temporary sculptures by artists such as Mark di Suvero and Xu Bing and presented exhibitions of contemporary art.

[18] His appointment followed the completion of an eight-year $320 million renovation and expansion designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly[19] which increased the museum's size by fifty-one percent.

[20] Griswold commented on the circumstances preceding his appointment in a 2017 interview with arts journalist Lee Rosenbaum:[21] I came to Cleveland after a period of repeated changes in the director's office over a number of years...

I had incurred a real moral obligation and to serve that institution [the Cleveland Museum of Art] for a good, long period of time, and to break the cycle of departures.

These objects were a tenth-century Cambodian sculpture of Hanuman and an ancient Roman portrait of Drusus Julius Caesar, both purchased by the museum in good faith.

[4][23] The resolution of the situation with the Cambodian government in 2015 also resulted in the museum obtaining a fragment required in the reconstruction of a Krishna statue.