Earl Alexander Powell III , nicknamed Rusty Powell, is an American art historian and museum director. From 1980 to 1992, he was Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He was appointed Director of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in September 1992. He was appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 2003 and elected chairman in 2005. He was appointed to a second fouryear term on August 30, 2012, and continues to serve as chairman.
Earl Powell was born in October 1943 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Earl Alexander Powell II and Elizabeth Duckworth Powell. His grandfather operated a photoengraving business, which Powell credits as influential in sparking his later love of art. The Powells moved to Rhode Island. Rusty, as Powell was known, graduated from Providence Country Day School in 1962. He was a standout football player in high school.
Source: Wikipedia