The Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) has received a gift of $6 million. The gift, from the Louise Dieterle Nippert Trust, will go toward the endowment of the museum’s director position, which will be assumed by Cameron Kitchin on October 1. It’s the first endowed position in the museum’s 128-year history.

“Louise Dieterle Nippert has played a tremendous role in ensuring Greater Cincinnati remains a cultural arts destination, and her generosity and dedication to local arts institutions are immeasurable,” said CAM board president Marty Ragland in a statement. “We’re so thankful that her legacy affords the Cincinnati Art Museum the ability to remain focused on our mission—to bring people and art together in ways that transform our everyday lives and our community.”

Kitchin, the ninth director of the museum, comes to Cincinnati from Memphis’s Brooks Museum of Art, where, as that museum’s director, he demonstrated expertise in museum management and strategic planning. He replaces Aaron Betsky, who was the CAM’s director for eight years and left in May.

The museum has an annual operating budget of $11 million and ended 2013 with an endowment of $87 million, up from $63 million when Betsky became director in 2006. A large portion of the museum’s endowment is earmarked for acquisitions.

In recent years, the CAM has staged several well-attended shows, including its 2012 blockbuster exhibition “Monet in Giverny: Landscapes of Reflection.”

“Endowing the director’s position at the Cincinnati Art Museum supports an important Cincinnati landmark,” said Trust manager Carter Randolph, “while making sure the community [Nippert] loved continues to enjoy one of the most comprehensive art collections in the Midwest.”