Nine months after Philippe de Montebello announced that he would step down from his 31-year directorship of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the museum has announced his successor, Thomas P. Campbell.

Campbell, who was elected at a meeting of the museum's board of trustees today, is a curator specializing in European tapestry who has worked at the Met since 1995. He currently serves as curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts and supervising curator of the Antonio Ratti textile center.

"Tom Campbell, in my view, is absolutely the right selection," said de Montebello, adding that he is "an outstanding art historian of proven experience and judgment who fits perfectly into the long tradition of Met leadership that emerges from within the curatorial ranks, which has been the case for all but two of his predecessors in more than a century."

Campbell will assume the directorship on January 1, 2009.