NEW YORK, NY.- Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. Mr. Mossavar-Rahmani's election took place at the January 13 meeting of the board.

Active in industry and international affairs, Mr. Mossavar-Rahmani serves concurrently as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Foxtrot International, LDC, a Franco-American oil and gas company that operates in West Africa, and as CEO of Mondoil Enterprises, LLC, an energy holding company in the United States. He was the founder and President of Houston-based Apache International, Inc., and served as the Assistant Director for International Energy Studies at Harvard University's Energy and Environmental Policy Center. A former delegate to OPEC Ministerial Conferences, he is the author of numerous books and articles on global energy markets.

"It gives me great pleasure to welcome Bijan to the Museum's Board of Trustees," said James R. Houghton, commenting on the election. "Since becoming a member of the Museum along with his wife in 1985, he has steadily increased his involvement in our activities, joining—in 2000—the Friends of Islamic Art and—in 2003—the Visiting Committee of the Department of Islamic Art. The board will be strengthened immeasurably through his unique expertise and special perspective, and I look forward to working with him more closely in his new role."

Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, continued, "While the galleries dedicated to the display of art from Arab lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and later South Asia at the Met are under construction, we have continued to collect, preserve, study, and present to the public the finest examples of art from this part of the world. Moving forward, as the new galleries near completion, the insights and input of longtime friends and supporters like Bijan will be invaluable."

Educated at Princeton and Harvard universities, Mr. Mossavar-Rahmani serves on the Visiting Committee of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, of which he is an alumnus. He has been decorated a Commandeur de l'Ordre National de la Côte d'Ivoire, for services to the energy sector of that country.