Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's richest art institution, named James N. Wood as its new president and chief executive officer, succeeding Barry Munitz, who resigned Feb. 9 after a series of scandals.

Wood, 65, was director and president of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1980 to 2004. He starts his new post in February, the Getty Trust said in a statement. Wood also serves as board president of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Deborah Marrow has acted as interim president since Munitz's departure.

The Getty Trust, with an endowment of more than $5.5 billion, operates the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles; the Getty Villa, a museum of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan art in nearby Malibu; institutes for art conservation and art history; and a foundation for grants to arts organizations. Louise Bryson, chairwoman of the Getty Trust's board, headed the search committee that selected Wood.

``I'm not a money administrator or a businessman,'' Wood said in an interview. ``I'll bring an arts focus'' to the Getty. He also said the trustees already had made progress toward improving corporate governance. The trust's leadership ``is committed to resolving those issues. They want to move ahead.''

California Investigation

Munitz resigned during an investigation by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer into governance practices at the Getty Trust, including Munitz's reimbursed travel and business expenses. When Munitz resigned, he agreed to forfeit more than $2 million in benefits and repaid $250,000 in expenses.

In a statement in February, he said he quit after ``lengthy consideration, so both the institution and I can move forward.''

The Getty Trust's chairman at the time, former TIAA-CREF Chairman John Biggs, resigned in August.

In an agreement announced in October, former California Attorney General John Van de Kamp will serve as independent monitor of the Getty for two years and report to Lockyer on the trust's overhaul implementation.

The Getty also is in talks with authorities in Italy and Greece about possibly looted antiquities in the museum's collection.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen West in San Francisco at smwest@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 5, 2006 03:00 EST