Matica srpska
He held various positions at SANU: he was the Secretary of the Department for Historical Sciences (1981–85), the Secretary General of the Academy (1985–94), and in 1999 Medaković was elected President of SANU, a post which he held until 2003. At Matica srpska he was in charge of the Department of Art History. He edited the "Fine Arts Digest of Matica srpska" journal (). His research interests included a wide scope of topics in art history and art criticism, from Serbian medieval art to modern painting, but his main fields of expertise were Serbian Baroque painting and general cultural circumstances of the 18th century, as well as Serbian art of the 19th century.