Michael Brand may have left Australia more than a decade ago to pursue a career in some of America's most prestigious art museums, but he always dreamed of coming back.
Now, his wish has been granted, with the announcement today of his appointment as director of the Art Gallery of NSW.
The former Canberran will be filling the formidable shoes of the gallery's former director, Edmund Capon, who retired last year after 33 years at the helm.
But Dr Brand will be returning to Australia with his own formidable reputation, as a former director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Born in Canberra, Dr Brand spent some of his school years in America, when his father worked for the International Monetary Fund.
He returned to Australia and completed his undergraduate studies at the Australian National University, majoring in art history and Asian Studies, before heading back to America to complete a masters and doctorate at Harvard.
He returned to Canberra to work at the National Gallery, where he was the founder of Asian art - today one of the gallery's most significant collections.
He also unsuccessfully applied for the directorship of the gallery in 1996, losing to Brian Kennedy, and later spent four years at the Queensland Art Gallery as assistant director.
Dr Brand moved to the US in 2000 to take up the directorship of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and was appointed the director of the Getty Museum in 2005.
He stepped down from that role before the end of his contract in 2010, and most recently was a consulting director of the Aga Khan Museum currently under construction in Toronto.
But after being in talks for the past few months with the president of the NSW gallery's board of trustees, Steven Lowy, he said he was excited to be bringing his family back to Australia after more than a decade.
Dr Brand is due to take up his position in Sydney mid-year.
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