David Whitehouse joined The Corning Museum of Glass in 1984 as chief curator. He was named deputy director of collections in 1987, was promoted to deputy director of the Museum in 1988, and became director in 1992. He was appointed to executive director in 1999. In 2011, Whitehouse left his position as executive director and became the Museum’s senior scholar, focusing on a number of projects, including writing and publishing additional volumes on Islamic glass.
Whitehouse holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from Cambridge University in England and, prior to joining The Corning Museum of Glass, served as director of the British Institute of Afghan Studies and The British School at Rome. Whitehouse also directed numerous archaeological excavations in the United Kingdom, Italy, Iran, Afghanistan, and Libya. He has published more than 500 scholarly papers, reviews, monographs, and books―including three volumes of Roman Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass ―in addition to serving as an advisor to various academic journals. He has served as editor of the Corning Museum’s Journal of Glass Studies since 1988.
Whitehouse is a member of the board of the International Association for the History of Glass, having served as president from 1991 to 1995. He was appointed to the Accreditation Visiting Committee Roster of the American Association of Museums in 1998. In addition, he is an elected fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a trustee for the Rockwell Museum of Western Art in Corning, NY.