Jonathan Abbott, a public media executive who grew Boston's GBH into a billion-dollar institution, is the new leader of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

MOCA's Board of Trustees appointed Abbott as CEO and Maurice Marciano Director on Thursday, Sept. 24, following an international search, the museum announced. He is the museum's sixth director since 2008, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Abbott spent 15 years as president and CEO of GBH, the PBS-affiliated public broadcaster behind programs including FRONTLINE, NOVA, American Experience and Masterpiece. During that stretch he led nearly 800 employees, oversaw a $225 million annual operating budget, ran a $215 million fundraising campaign and helped grow GBH's assets from roughly $225 million to $1 billion.

He also helped launch the on-demand platform PBS Passport, led the merger of Public Radio International and PRX, and created a studio and community gathering space at the Boston Public Library.

Abbott told the Los Angeles Times he has spent his whole career around creative people and sees himself as a builder drawn to institutions with vital missions. He said MOCA's collection of nearly 8,000 works and the challenge of inviting new audiences felt similar to work he had tackled in public media.

Abbott moved to Los Angeles four years ago with his wife. He applied after learning that previous director Johanna Burton had left MOCA for the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania.

Board chair Carolyn Clark Powers said in a statement that Abbott brings the experience and imagination to extend MOCA's reach and deepen its relationship with Los Angeles. She pointed to the museum's 50th anniversary in 2029 as a milestone on the horizon.

Philanthropist and art collector Jarl Mohn, a former president and CEO of NPR who said he recommended Abbott to MOCA's search committee, told the Times the museum needs steadier footing.

"I have been so saddened, like many have, that MOCA has had a very tough run," Mohn said. "Not necessarily from a programming standpoint … but from a management standpoint, with turnover and turmoil."

MOCA's leadership churn since 2018 has included the firing of chief curator Helen Molesworth by then-director Philippe Vergne, the hiring and departure of Klaus Biesenbach, and pandemic-era layoffs that cut 97 part-time employees and furloughed or reduced pay for 69 full-time staffers.

Abbott succeeds interim director Ann Goldstein, who stepped in during August 2025 and will stay through November to advise the transition. Goldstein began her MOCA career in 1983. She oversaw the critically acclaimed MONUMENTS exhibition and the acquisition of more than 150 works during her interim tenure.

The museum's curatorial team is led by chief curator Clara Kim, alongside senior curators Bennett Simpson and José Luis Blondet. MOCA, founded in 1979, holds its collection across its Grand Avenue and Geffen Contemporary locations.