The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University has hired a new director, filling a vacancy that dates back three years to the university’s abortive plan to sell its art collection, says The Boston Globe.

The university is set to announce on Friday the appointment of Christopher Bedford, chief curator at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, to take over the Rose, which was on the brink of closure as a public museum in 2009. Mr. Bedford will take up the office in September.

His predecessor, Michael Rush, departed in early 2009 as the university’s trustees and its then-president, Jehuda Reinharz, considered selling some of its $350-million modern-art collection to finance campus operations. That plan was abandoned in the face of strong opposition on campus and in the art world and a legal challenge from Rose supporters.

“It’s a very good sign that Brandeis was able to attract an experienced curator with excellent credentials and a marvelous reputation,” said Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and a Brandeis alumnus. “It is the best possible result out of a time of trouble. The past is really behind us.”