Heran Sereke-Brhan has been named deputy director of the prestigious Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art.

This is not the first time the Ethiopian-born scholar has held high-profile posts. Dr. Heran most recently served as vice president of the Washington, DC-based Arts Consulting Group from January 2023 to November 2024. Prior to that, she was executive director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, starting in January 2020. She had previously served as the agency’s Interim Executive Director since October 2019, after holding the role of Senior Grants Officer since July 2017.

“I am beyond thrilled to join a stellar group of staff with deep knowledge and commitment to African art,” Heran wrote on her LinkedIn page. “It feels like a homecoming of sorts, from when I came to the National Museum of African Art as an intern, then again after graduate school to work on an Ethiopian exhibition.” —referring to her earlier role as Curatorial Assistant and Education Specialist at the Museum from January 2003 to September 2003 and developing the major exhibition titled “Ethiopian passages: dialogues in the diaspora,” from May 2 – October 5, 2003.

Heran has worked at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University from 2005 – 2006. She has gained a reputation in Ethiopia for her book “Gebre Kristos Desta – Expansive Pathway…Lifetime Traveler” (Engelhardt & Bauer, Germany · Jan 1, 2006). She holds a bachelor of arts degree in political, legal, economic analysis from Mills College, as well as a master of arts degree and a doctor of philosophy in history, with a focus on African, Caribbean and African-American history, both from Michigan State University. She has also produced several stage performances as well as the short film Ethiopia in Movement.