INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After six months of searching, there’s a new leader at Newfields. The Board of Trustees on Monday named Le Monte Booker Sr. as the art and nature museum’s next president and CEO.

Booker most recently served as the CFO of the Field Museum in Chicago, where he oversaw areas including finance, protections services, and facilities planning and operations. He also spent a short time as the storied museum’s president and CEO.

He is a graduate of DePaul University and received his MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Business.

In a statement released by Newfields, Booker said he is “thrilled” to start his next chapter in Indianapolis.

“I look forward to working with the Board, staff and Central Indiana community to continue…enriching lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature at this special institution.”

Booker’s selection is the result of a national search by Koya Partners, which with worked a committee appointed by the Board of Trustees to review over 200 applications for the role. Newfields says input from staff, docents, volunteers, and members played a role in the recruiting and review process.

“Mr. Booker emerged as a clear frontrunner in our national search. His visionary approach, coupled with his operational skills and his trusted presence as an ambassador, makes him an exceptional fit for Newfields and the Indianapolis community,” Anne Sellers, chair of the search committee, said in a release.

Booker will begin his new role in late October, taking over for interim leader Michael Kubacki.

Kubacki was appointed after the resignation of former Newfields president and CEO Colette Pierce Burnette, who took the job in August 2022 and resigned in November 2023.

Pierce Burnette was tapped to lead the museum following the 2021 resignation of Charles Venable. Venable stepped down after a controversial job listing that listed one of the job duties as “maintaining the Museum’s traditional, core, white art audience.”

Despite multiple inquiries to Pierce Burnette and Newfields, News 8 has been unable to confirm the reason for her departure.