David Robertson will start in August as the new director of the Block Museum of Art, which has gone half a year without a permanent director.

Robertson, associate director of the art museum at the University of Chicago, will succeed Michael Weston, interim director since Jan. 1., administrators announced Tuesday. David Mickenberg left as Block director last winter to head the art museum at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Weston, who served on the search committee, said Robertson’s Chicago connections, fund-raising experience and ability to bring together different disciplines in a museum setting make him an excellent choice.

“Northwestern is an interesting place because there are so many separate schools,” said Weston, who served as NU’s general counsel for 11 years before retiring last August. “Sometimes it takes a conscious effort to pull schools together across disciplines.”

Robertson, who holds a doctorate in art history from the University of Pennsylvania, has organized fund raising and finance for the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art since 2000. He also served as director of University of Oregon’s art museum and worked at Loyola University in Chicago.

“The fact that he can start from a position of knowledge and familiarity will be a tremendous asset,” Weston said.

Robertson was unavailable for comment Wednesday. He will assume his new position Aug. 1.