CATHY A. LEFF

MUSEUM DIRECTOR
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Cathy A. Leff became director of The Wolfsonian–FIU in 1998. Leff manages the operations and long-term strategic and financial planning of the state-of-the-art research and exhibition facility, home to more than 100,000 decorative art objects, architectural elements, rare books and archives that chronicle the years 1885 to 1945. 

She leads a professional staff of more than 40 and oversees an annual budget of approximately $4 million. Leff also serves as the publisher of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts (DAPA), the museum’s internationally acclaimed scholarly journal. 
In 1996, she represented founder Mitchell Wolfson Jr. and the board of Wolfsonian Inc. in their negotiations with Florida International University and the subsequent transition of the museum from a private collection to a public institution. 

Leff’s background is in community development and public administration. She worked for the City of Miami from 1978 to 1987, responsible for all cultural planning, art in public places and the city communications office. She also worked with communities to plan physical and economic development projects under the Community Development Block Grant Program. 

Born in New York and raised in South Florida, Leff received a bachelor’s degree in 1973 from Sophie Newcomb College, Tulane University, and has also completed several graduate-level courses in business administration at the University of Miami. She also participated in certificate programs for leaders of not-for-profit organizations at the Harvard and Stanford Business Schools.

In 2002, she was invited to join the prestigious American Association of Museum Directors. Leff is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

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