Kimerly Rorschach, who launched the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University as its first director in 2005, will leave her post this fall to head the Seattle Art Museum.

"Kim came to Duke in the fall of 2004 when the Nasher Museum of Art was still under construction. Through her inspired and highly professional leadership, the Nasher has become a cultural landmark and resource on the Duke campus, attracting students, faculty, community members, and national and international visitors,” Duke President Richard H. Brodhead said in a news release Monday.

“The Nasher has transformed cultural life at Duke, and we will be forever grateful for Kim’s tireless work on behalf of the arts during her eight years as its director," he continued.

This year, Rorschach was elected president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, which represents more than 200 leading art museums in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

At Duke, in addition to being the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the Nasher, Rorschach chairs Duke’s Council on the Arts and also chairs President Brodhead’s Art Advisory Committee overseeing public sculpture on campus. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies and teaches the course "Museum Theory and Practice."

“I am extremely proud to have been part of the Nasher Museum’s exciting beginnings,” Rorschach said. “In just eight years, we have become a beacon for the visual arts at Duke and beyond. We built a permanent collection of some of the world’s most important modern and contemporary art and originated leading-edge exhibitions that traveled across the country and internationally.

“Nearly 40,000 K-12 school children and tens of thousands of Duke students have visited. I have been extremely fortunate to work with an exceptional staff and dedicated supporters and volunteers," she added.

Before coming to Duke, Rorschach was the director of the University of Chicago’s David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art for 10 years. She previously held curatorial positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia. Rorschach was a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University.