Kress Foundation Mourns Sudden Loss of New President
KRESS FOUNDATION MOURNS SUDDEN LOSS OF NEW PRESIDENT
Dr. Julia Alexander, Head of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Has Passed
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (May 5, 2025) – The Samuel H. Kress Foundation mourns the loss of its president, Dr. Julia Alexander, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, May 4.
Dr. Alexander had only recently taken the helm of the Kress Foundation in the fall of 2024, following her time as the first woman to serve as executive director and CEO of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by Julia’s passing,” said Dr. Carmela Franklin, chair of the Foundation’s Board. “She was brimming with energy, optimism, and a sense of new direction for our work. She managed to bring both vision and genuine fun to her efforts. Her commitment to art and its significance in our society was compelling and infectious. We will miss her profoundly.”
“Even in the short time Julia served as president of Kress she made an impact, on our programs, on our work, and on our sense of the possible. Julia Alexander was a visionary leader and a wonderful human being,” said Daniel H. Weiss, vice-chair of the Board.
The Kress Board of Trustees are grateful that Lisa W. Schermerhorn, Vice President, will serve as Interim President effective immediately.
Dr. Alexander’s family has requested that the following statement be shared:
With deep sorrow, we share the news of the untimely passing of Dr. Julia Alexander, who died of a heart attack at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Julia leaves behind her two children, Jack and Beatrice (Bede), mother Catharine Alexander, former husband Dr. John Marciari, and sister Kitty. Julia was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1967, and grew up in Claremont, California. She attended Wellesley College, where she studied art history and French, and from which she graduated magna cum laude in 1989. She then attended New York University, where she earned a master's degree in French literature in 1992, followed by Yale University, where she earned a master's degree (1993) and completed her PhD in art history in 1999.
Julia’s career was one of remarkable success. In 1996 she joined the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University, first as curator of paintings and sculpture and then as the museum’s associate director of programmatic affairs and associate director for exhibitions and publications. In 2008, Julia joined the San Diego Museum of Art as deputy director for curatorial affairs. After five years in San Diego, Julia came to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore in 2013, serving as the museum’s fifth director and the first woman to hold the position. In 2024, Julia became the President of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York City.
[This post will be updated.]
Dr. Julia M. Alexander
Courtesy the Walters Art Museum