James DeGraffenreidt, Jr.
Chair of the Board of Trustees
James H. DeGraffenreidt, Jr. is the Chair of the Board of the Walters Art Museum. A veteran energy industry executive, DeGraffenreidt has been a member of the Board for over 20 years. He has held numerous leadership positions with the Board, including Vice President, Chair of the Board Governance and Development Committee, and most recently, President.
DeGraffenreidt was chairman of the board and CEO of WGL Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Washington Gas. In addition to serving on the boards of the Walters, the Open Society Institute – Baltimore, and Bard High School Early College, DeGraffenreidt was elected to The New Jersey Resources Board of Directors and has served on the Maryland State Board of Education, where he also served as president for four years.
DeGraffenreidt earned a JD and an MBA from Columbia University, and a BA from Yale College.
Guy E. Flynn
President of the Board
Guy E. Flynn is the President of the Board of the Walters Art Museum. Flynn, a veteran lawyer, has been a member of the Walters’ Board for 11 years, serving for the past several years as a Board Vice-President.
Flynn practices law in the area of commercial real estate investment, development and finance at DLA Piper, one of the world’s largest law firms. He has spent his entire 29-year career there, beginning as a first-year law school summer associate and later becoming chairman of its Maryland Real Estate Practice and partner-in-charge of its downtown Baltimore office, which roles he has held for the past decade. Active in the community, he also serves as a trustee and executive committee member of the Baltimore Community Foundation; a trustee of the Living Classrooms Foundation; a director of Maryland Legal Aid; a governor of The Center Club; and an appointee to the Maryland Attorney General’s COVID-19 Access to Justice Task Force and co-chair of the Task Force’s Pro Bono Committee. Among the many accolades Flynn has received during his career include his induction in 2019 into the Maryland Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame; winning the 2013 “Distinguished Marylander” and “Leadership in Law” awards from The Daily Record; being listed as one of 2019’s 100 notable attorneys across the United States by The Business Journals; and being honored in 2016 by the Israel-based B’nai Zion Foundation for his work as a legal and community leader in the greater Baltimore area. He is perennially recognized by leading global industry and peer journals as one of America’s best business lawyers. Flynn and his wife Nupur Parekh Flynn are committed philanthropists and dedicated patrons and supporters of the arts.
Flynn received his juris doctorate and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Virginia.
Julia Marciari-Alexander, PhD
Andrea B. and John H. Laporte Director of the Walters Art Museum
Dr. Julia Marciari-Alexander has served as Executive Director & CEO of the Walters Art Museum since 2013. The fifth director of the Walters, she is the first woman to hold the post. During her tenure, she has overseen the award-winning, $11 million refurbishment of the historic Hackerman House at 1 West Mount Vernon Place, launched a series of initiatives that examine the institution’s origins and map steps to embed diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) in the organization, and broadened and diversified the board of trustees and leadership team at the museum. She is inspired by the collaborative work that she and the team at the museum do to create exhibitions and public and educational programs that connect with the wide-ranging and diverse communities in Baltimore and beyond.
In addition, Marciari-Alexander serves as Vice-President of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) Board of Trustees. In Maryland, she serves on the boards of the Maryland Citizens for the Arts, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, and the Center Club.
Prior to joining the Walters, Marciari-Alexander was Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at the San Diego Museum of Art where she served from 2008 to 2013, as Interim Co-Director (2009–2010) and Interim Deputy Director for Education (2010–2011). Before moving to San Diego, she spent more than 10 years at the Yale Center for British Art, first as Assistant/Associate Curator of Paintings & Sculpture, then as Associate Director of Programmatic Affairs and Associate Director of Exhibitions and Publications. During her tenure there, she also taught numerous courses for the University’s History of Art department. Marciari-Alexander earned her BA in art history and French at Wellesley College; her MA in French at NYU; and her MA and PhD in the history of art at Yale University.