Getty Board Chair to Step Down

Biggs, who joined the board in 1999 and was elected chairman in June 2004, has guided the nation's third-largest private foundation through two years of controversy surrounding former trust Chief Executive Barry Munitz's use of Getty funds for personal benefit and claims by Italian and Greek authorities that the Getty Museum had acquired looted antiquities.

"We have had to grapple with serious challenges over these past two years," Biggs said in a statement to be released as part of the announcement. "Clearly mistakes were made and they had to be corrected."

Biggs said he was confident that the board's actions and broad policy changes made in recent months "will improve governance and transparency" at the Getty, and help resolve the antiquities disputes with Italy and Greece.

"We're on the right course as we move forward," he said in the statement.

Biggs cited the "heavy responsibilities" of the chairman's position in his decision to resign early, adding that commitments to other organizations and his residence in New York contributed to the decision.

The announcement of Biggs' departure, which was privately disclosed to the board July 25, comes as The Times has asked Getty officials for information regarding key decisions Biggs made during his leadership of the board, which some current and former board members have criticized.

Next week, the California attorney general's office is expected to release the results of its yearlong investigation of the Getty, which has focused both on Munitz and the board's governance.

In a recent interview, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said the report is likely to find that "insufficient oversight by the trustees" contributed to the Getty's problems.

Among the issues being investigated are several that involved Biggs, including a $3-million severance agreement awarded to former museum director Deborah Gribbon and a lucrative book deal Munitz awarded former board Chairman David Gardner soon after he left the board.

"My sense of Mr. Biggs was that this must have been the most severe test of his own leadership," said Warren Bennis, a USC business professor and corporate governance expert. "It was a crucible."