Rebecca Ben-Atar

Rebecca Ben-Atar is the Director of Collections at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum where she leads efforts to build, preserve, and share its collection of 6 million objects. Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Rebecca worked for over a decade at the Metropolitan Museum of Art managing curatorial departments and organizing numerous exhibitions. At the Postal Museum, Rebecca develops programs and supports initiatives that both increase access and mitigate risk to the collection. Her background organizing exhibitions and dedication to cultural heritage preservation led her to curate Ukrainian Postage Stamps from 1918 (2022) and activate a rapid response collecting effort to acquire contemporary Ukrainian stamps documenting the Russian invasion. Rebecca holds a BA in Art History from the University of Maryland and an MA in Art History from Hunter College.