February 04, 2015

Chairman and founder of the University of Maryland’s DeVos Institute of Arts Management, Michael Kaiser is widely recognized for spearheading the turnaround of major arts organizations—including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Royal Opera House, American Ballet Theatre, and Kansas City Ballet. The President Emeritus of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will visit Drexel on Thursday, February 19. His previously scheduled January visit was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Mr. Kaiser will share his unique perspectives on the challenges facing arts organizations on February 19 at 5:30pm in the URBN Annex Screening Room (3401 Filbert Street). This talk should be of interest to all those interested in the arts and arts management, and it will be preceded by a 4:30pm meet and greet reception in the URBN Annex Lobby. Click here to register for the free event.

While serving as President of the Kennedy Center, Mr. Kaiser expanded educational and artistic programming and developed signature presentation programs in music, dance, and theatre with leading national and international artists. He also launched several national public initiatives that provided services such as free arts management consulting to nonprofit performing arts organizations and localized, long-range arts education plans for public school students. He has recently consulted for the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Philadelphia Theater Company.

During his day-long visit to Drexel Mr. Kaiser will meet with Arts & Entertainment Enterprise faculty, in addition to meeting individually with students in the Arts Administration graduate program to discuss their thesis research and other topics related to the cultural sector.

Mr. Kaiser previously represented the U.S. on a commission that established the Arts Council of the Republic of South Africa. The author of eight books, he has also served as a research economist for Nobel Prize-winning economist Wassily Leontief, and he writes a weekly column for The Huffington Post. Among several awards he has received the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America and the Kahlil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Award from the Arab American Institute Foundation. The King of Sweden named Mr. Kaiser a Commander of Order of the Polar Star in 2013 and the Norwegian government named Mr. Kaiser a Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2014.