I just received an email saying that Michael Rush, the founding director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, had died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Rush was also, of course, the director of the Rose Museum at Brandeis University when the president and trustees there tried to sell off its collection in 2009. Because he opposed that idea, Rush’s contact was not renewed.
Today’s statement from MSU continued:
“On behalf of the MSU community, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Michael Rush,†President Lou Anna K. Simon said. “In the short time we were fortunate enough to call Michael a colleague, he had a profound impact on the university through his work with the Broad museum and in the art community. The future accomplishments of the museum staff will always reflect the foundation he built.”
Rush knew many people in the art world–that’s an understatement–from his many activities. There will be a memorial for him in New York later this spring, the announcement said.
I knew Michael, as I am sure many of you did, and liked him very much. RIP.