The post of Executive Assistant to the Director was created in 1978 to oversee the administrative and financial programs and policies and other special projects assigned to it by the Director of the Freer Gallery of Art. The job title changed to Assistant Director, Administration in 1980 and to Assistant Director, Finance and Administration in 1994. Administrative and financial tasks split in the early 1990s. From 1992 to 1999, there was an Executive Assistant to the Director, Toni C. Lake, hired to oversee administrative tasks of the galleries, and in 1995 or 1996, a Financial Officer position was created. After 1999, these merged under an Assistant Director, Finance and Administration; and this position still exists to the present. The Assistant Director, Finance and Administration, reports to the Office of the Director.

Richard Louie was the Executive Assistant to the Director, 1977-1980, and Assistant Director, Administration, 1980-1984. In 1984, Louie became Assistant Director, Freer Gallery of Art, and Sarah Newmeyer became Administrative Officer in his place in 1984 and later Assistant Director, Administration. From 1994 to 1997, she served as Assistant Director, Finance and Administration. In 1997, Glennel Cooper became the Financial Officer and served in this capacity until about 2000. In 2001, Sue Nichols became Assistant Director, Finance and Administration and still retains this title.

The Assistant Director, Finance and Administration oversees the gallery shops, personnel, and reception work at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.