The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has named Jonathan Abbott as its new chief executive and Maurice Marciano Director, concluding an extensive international search. The appointment took effect on 24 September 2026, and Abbott now leads the museum as it builds momentum toward its fiftieth anniversary in 2029. Abbott arrives from an adjacent field: public media. He spent fifteen years as president and chief executive of GBH, the largest multiplatform producer of programming for PBS in the United States and the organisation behind FRONTLINE, NOVA, American Experience and Masterpiece. He led nearly eight hundred staff and a $225 million annual budget, steered a $215 million fundraising campaign, and oversaw a period in which the institution's assets grew from roughly $225 million to $1 billion. He also guided GBH's digital transformation and expanded its journalism, educational resources and cultural programming. The choice signals that MOCA's board wants an institution-builder, someone who can broaden support, audiences and philanthropy behind an ambitious exhibition and programme schedule. Board chair Carolyn Clark Powers praised Abbott as a collaborative leader of mission-driven institutions, saying he brings the experience and imagination to extend the museum's reach and deepen its ties with Los Angeles. Abbott said he wanted to give artists and curators the strongest possible platform for their work, and described Los Angeles as one of the world's most vibrant cultural centres. He succeeds Ann Goldstein, who served as interim director from August 2025 and will remain through November as an adviser to support the handover. Goldstein, who began her career at MOCA in 1983 and later led the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, steered the museum through what the board called a consequential year, including the critically acclaimed MONUMENTS exhibition and the acquisition of more than 150 works for the collection. Abbott inherits a curatorial team led by chief curator Clara Kim, who has headed the department since 2022 after senior roles at Tate Modern, the Walker Art Center and REDCAT.