Sanchita Balachandran is Director of the Museum Conservation Institute. She is an art conservator trained in the preservation, technical research and care of works of art and cultural heritage, with a specialization in archaeological materials. Her research explores how the technical study and conservation of archaeological items brings us closer to the lived experiences of ancient people.

Before joining the Smithsonian in 2024, Balachandran was Director of the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum and Associate Teaching Professor at Johns Hopkins University. At Johns Hopkins, she developed research projects and taught courses in museum practice and the technical study of ancient items from Archaeological Museum collections. She also previously taught courses in conservation at the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in Art Conservation and Morgan State University. Balachandran also has extensive fieldwork experience, having worked on sites in Egypt, India, Cambodia, Tunisia, Canada and the United States.

Balachandran earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Pomona College, a master’s degree in art history from New York University, an advanced certificate in art conservation from New York University, and a doctorate in preservation studies from the University of Delaware. 

Balachandran is a fellow of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the recipient of the AIC’s Rutherford Gettens Award for outstanding service (2021). Her research has been recognized through a James Marsden Fitch Residency at the American Academy in Rome (2023); the Bard Graduate Center’s Iris Outstanding Mid-Career Scholar Award (2020); a Conservation Guest Scholar residency at the Getty Conservation Institute (2017), and a Fulbright Award to India (2009-2010).