Dr. David Franklin was named the ninth Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art in August, 2010. An internationally renowned expert in the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods, he was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the Republic of Italy in 2009. David is a native of Canada and previously served as the Deputy Director and Chief Curator for the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa. After receiving his BA from Queen’s University, David went to England where he received his MA in European Renaissance Art and his Ph.D. from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. From 1991 to 1994, he was the Slade and Shuffrey Fellow in Italian Renaissance Art at Lincoln College, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College from 1994 to 1999. He was also Professor of Italian Renaissance at Oxford from 1994 to 1998, and a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in Los Angeles, California in 1996 as well as at the Hertziana Library, Rome, in 2010. In 1998, he joined the National Gallery as Curator of Prints and Drawings, a position which he held until he became the Deputy Director and Chief Curator in 2001. About TEDx, x=independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a