Evening on Inspiration 2026 Honoree: Timothy P. Whalen

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Timothy P. Whalen is John E. and Louise Bryson Director of the Getty Conservation Institute and Vice President of Institutional Planning for the J. Paul Getty Trust. His professional association with Getty dates to 1983, when he was appointed assistant director of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities (now Getty Research Institute) and then associate director of the Getty Building Program, which oversaw the development of the Getty Center campus.

In 1991, he became senior program officer in the Getty Grant Program (now Getty Foundation) overseeing art and architectural conservation grantmaking activities. In December 1998, he was appointed director of the Getty Conservation Institute and in October 2025 he was appointed Vice President of Institutional Planning for Getty. Whalen recently announced his intention to retire from the directorship of the Conservation Institute, remaining in this role until his successor is in place. 

Whalen was a trustee and Board Chair of the US National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a member of the international advisory board for the Courtauld Institute of Art's MA in Conservation of Wall Paintings program, and a former member of the United States National Commission to UNESCO. He was a Loeb Fellow in Environmental Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. A California native, he holds a BA in art history as well as an MA in museum studies and art history from the University of Southern California.