Kim Sajet to Depart as Director of National Portrait Gallery
151June 14, 2025
Kim Sajetis stepping down as director of the National Portrait Gallery. Sajet was the first woman ever to hold the role. Her departure comes after President Donald Trump announced in a social media post late last month that he was firing her because she was “a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position.” Despite the president’s claim, Sajet continued to report for work. The Smithsonian, which oversees the National Portrait Gallery, subsequently issued a statement reaffirming its independence—created and partly funded by Congress, it is not under government control—and asserting its power to hire and fire.
Sajet said in a statement that she was leaving in order to benefit the gallery. “This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right one,” she said. “From the very beginning, my guiding principle has been to put the museum first. Today, I believe that stepping aside is the best way to serve the institution I hold so deeply in my heart.”
Born in Nigeria, Sajet was raised in Australia and is a Dutch citizen. She has served as director of the National Portrait Gallery since 2013. Prior to her arrival there, she spent six years as president and chief executive of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Earlier roles included those of senior vice president and deputy director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and director of corporate relations at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In the 1990s, she served first as curator and then as director of two Australian art museums.
“We thank Kim for her service,” said Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch in an email sent to staff June 13 and reprinted in part in the New York Times. “She put the needs of the institution above her own, and for that we thank her.”