Anthony Bannon

Executive Director of the Burchfield Penney Art Center and a research professor at the State University of New York College at Buffalo. Prior to assuming the position at Burchfield in 2012, Dr. Bannon served as the seventh director of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, located in Rochester, NY. During his 16-year tenure at the Eastman House, he developed three postgraduate programs and created alliances with museums, universities, and collectors’ clubs throughout the United States. He also facilitated many of the most well-attended exhibitions in the museum’s 65-year history. In addition, he oversaw the digitization of collections and social-media campaigns to share Eastman House’s unparalleled collections with the world.

This is the second term as Director of the Burchfield Penney for Dr. Bannon, who led the museum from 1985 to 1996. His first tenure at Burchfield was marked by significant growth and pivotal acquisitions to the collection. He also established key endowments and community partnerships that remain central to the Burchfield Penney’s exhibition and collections programming. Dr. Bannon additionally held the position as Buffalo State College’s assistant vice president and director of cultural affairs from 1994-1996.

Dr. Bannon earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure University in 1964. His master’s in media studies and his Ph.D. in cultural studies are from the State University of New York at Buffalo.   He began his career as a filmmaker and a journalist, serving as the arts editor and critic for the Buffalo Evening News and the Buffalo News from 1969 to 1985.

Dr. Bannon has served numerous organizations including the Rochester School for the Deaf and the H.H. Richardson Restoration National Board. Nationally, he served on the Smithsonian Secretary’s Council, Santa Fe Center for the Visual Arts, New York Council on the Humanities, the Alliance of New York State Art Organization, and the New York State Association of Museums.

Among his many honors, in 2012, Dr. Bannon was awarded the St. Bonaventure University Gaudete Medal, the University’s highest honor. His book “Photo Pictorialists of Buffalo” won the American Photographic Historical Society’s merit award.

He and his wife, Elizabeth Stewart, a psychologist, have two sons: Nick is an administrator at the Texas School for the Deaf and Brendan is a freelance photographer currently working Africa.