Yale University has appointed a distinguished artist, curator, and art critic, Robert Storr, to replace Richard Benson as dean of the Yale School of Art, one of the premier art schools in the country.

“Rob Storr is deeply knit into the contemporary art world. Yale is exceptionally lucky to have someone of his wide-ranging gifts, accomplishment, and cosmopolitan experience as its new dean,” Yale’s president, Richard Levin, said yesterday in his announcement of the appointment. He said the Ivy League school’s search committee had “surveyed the entire art world to find the very best candidate.”

The executive editor of ART news, Robin Cembalest, called the appointment a “coup” for Yale.

She said in a telephone interview that the appointment was interesting because, though Mr. Storr is an accomplished artist, he is more renowned as “one of the most important curators in the art world.” Most of those chosen for similar positions are better known for their art, she said, adding that she was unsure how this would affect Mr. Storr’s tenure as dean.

Contacted by The New York Sun yesterday, Mr. Benson said he was “ecstatic” about the appointment. He said he enjoyed his 10 years as an administrator but was now ready to devote himself to his art – photography.

The director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Adam Weinberg, said he thought Mr. Storr was “a brilliant choice” for Yale.

Mr. Storr has been selected to curate the 2007 Venice Biennale, which is considered by many to be the most important exhibition for contemporary art. He is currently the Rosalie Solow professor of modern art at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.