Huntington Library Chief Announces Retirement

Robert A. Skotheim, 67, who has led the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens through a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity for the past 12 years, has announced that he will retire June 30, 2001.

He became president of the San Marino institution in 1988, when shortfalls of $32 million in capital and $4 million in annual operating income were projected. During his tenure, the endowment has increased from $62 million to $170 million, including $41.3 million in new gifts. Recent funding initiatives have raised an additional $26 million in new endowments for the library and gardens. Currently running on an annual budget of $31.9 million, the Huntington has been operating in the black for the past seven years.

The Huntington’s physical facilities also have grown with new gallery space and a botanical complex, scheduled to open next year. While presenting landmark exhibitions on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, the institution has expanded its membership from 3,000 to 18,000 and its corps of volunteers from 500 to 900.

Skotheim came to the Huntington after 13 years as president of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Huntington trustee Robert E. Wycoff will lead a committee to seek his successor.