Dwight Pierson Lanmon (born July 28, 1938) is an American

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and retired curator and museum director. An expert in ceramics and glass, he served as director of the

Corning Museum of Glass The Corning Museum of Glass is a museum in Corning (city), New York, Corning, New York, United States, dedicated to the art, history, and science of glass. It was founded in 1951 by Corning Incorporated, Corning Glass Works and currently has a ...

(1981–1992) and the

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of Henry Francis du Pont ...

(1992–1999). Lanmon holds a BA degree in physics from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

and an MA from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, jointly administered by Winterthur Museum and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

Early life and education

Lanmon grew up in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and received a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Colorado. He worked as an aerospace engineer at Northrop and

TRW Inc TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, electronics, automotive, and credit reporting.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/TRW-Inc-Company-History.html TRW Inc. It was a pioneer ...

and took night classes in art history, American history, and decorative arts at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. In 1966, he received a fellowship to attend the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, from which he received his master's degree in 1968. While at Winterthur, Lanmon met fellow graduate student, Ann Lorraine Welling, whom he married in 1970.

Career and retirement

Lanmon started his career in the arts as assistant curator (later promoted to associate curator) for ceramics and glass at the Winterthur Museum. In 1973, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

recruited him to serve as chief curator and curator of pre-1900 European glass. He became deputy director of collections in 1976 and director in 1981. He also served as a trustee of the

Rockwell Museum The Rockwell Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate museum of American art located in the Southern Tier region of New York in downtown Corning, New York. Frommer's describes it as "one of the best-designed small museums in the Northeast." In 2015, ...

from 1983 to 1992, serving as board president from 1988 to 1992 and acting director from 1986 to 1988. Lanmon returned to Winterthur Museum as director in 1992 and served until his retirement in 1999. During his tenure at Winterthur, he revitalized the museum's expansive gardens and made the collections more intellectually accessible. His tenure saw the opening of a new building, which permitted visitors to explore the museum's collections via rotating exhibitions. Before 1992, visitors had to make appointments to access the museum, which required guided tours and prohibited entrance to children under 12. In 1999, Lanmon retired to the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

, living in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, and

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, where he published four books on

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

pottery and served as a research associate at both the Indian Arts Research Center of the

School for Advanced Research The School for Advanced Research (SAR), until 2007 known as the School of American Research and founded in 1907 as the School for American Archaeology (SAA), is an advanced research center located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. Since 1 ...

and the

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ame ...

in Santa Fe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanmon, Dwight 1938 births Living people University of Colorado alumni University of Delaware alumni Directors of museums in the United States American nonprofit chief executives People associated with the Corning Museum of Glass People associated with Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library American art historians People from Denver American art curators