The president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago faces an independent investigation amid a report that he stripped on a commercial airplane.
James Rondeau is voluntarily taking time away from his office while the investigation is completed, an Art Institute spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The Art Institute takes this very seriously and has opened an independent investigation into the incident to gather all available information,” the statement said.
WBBM-TV on Friday night first reported the investigation and that Rondeau was involved in a peculiar incident on a mid-April flight from Chicago to Munich.
The outlet cited unnamed sources who said Rondeau stripped off his clothes during the United Airlines flight after he drank alcohol and took prescription medicine, prompting a police response.
The Art Institute is a crown gem of Chicago’s arts and culture industry. It holds one of the most valuable and important museum collections in the country.
Rondeau is the powerhouse institution’s highest-paid employee, making over $1 million in 2023, the nonprofit Art Institute’s tax returns show. He did not immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment.
He was appointed to lead the institution in 2016 after first joining it as a curator in 1998. The Art Institute’s website boasts that he “has led the museum through periods of tremendous reflection, evolution, and growth.”
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