The American Alliance of Museums announced today that its president, Ford W. Bell, will step down at the end of May 2015, after eight years at the helm. During that time he oversaw a rebranding and restructuring of the AAM, which sets standards and advocates for museums.

Bell was vocal on a number of museum issues during his tenure, including the threatened deaccessioning of works from the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, which he forcefully rebutted.