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Mariko Silver appointed President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Silver, who takes office in September, previously served as president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation.
Mariko Silver
Courtesy of Lincoln Center
Dr. Mariko Silver – a leader in philanthropy, education, government and the arts – has been named the next president and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Silver, Lincoln Center’s 12th president and CEO, will join the New York organization on Sept. 23. She comes to Lincoln Center from her position as president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation. She succeeds Henry Timms, who left that position after five years to become managing director of the public relations firm Brunswick Group.
During the Obama administration, Silver served as acting undersecretary and assistant undersecretary for international policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Before that, she served as policy adviser to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano on economic development, innovation, and higher education. Before her government service, Silver was instrumental in the transformation and expansion of Arizona State University. She also served as president of Bennington College.
At Lincoln Center, Silver will build on a number of initiatives in recent years that invest in the vibrancy of New York City through the arts – from the redesign of the Amsterdam Avenue side of the Lincoln Center campus to the annual Summer for the city Festival that welcomes hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world to free and Choose What You Pay events across the Lincoln Center campus. It will also reinforce Lincoln Center’s commitment to supporting the arts for all.
“Mariko is an innovative and proven leader with extensive experience in complex organizations,” Lincoln Center Board Chairman Steven R. Swartz said in a statement. “Her successful tenure as CEO of a prestigious college and foundation, coupled with her leadership and love of the arts, position Lincoln Center to succeed with her at the helm as we pursue a number of important initiatives to strengthen our service to New York City and beyond.”
Silver added, “Throughout my career, I have enjoyed opportunities to unleash creativity, connect cultures, and help communities and individuals imagine their own best futures. Lincoln Center does all of these things at the highest levels of excellence and ambition. It is an honor to come to Lincoln Center at this moment. I was born and raised in the splendor of Lincoln Center and was fortunate to experience the transformative impact of artistic greatness early in life. Lincoln Center is a creative force that provides artists with a vast reach and an extraordinary platform to produce their very best work. As we embark on this next chapter together, it is an honor to build on all that has come before and continue to advance the arts for all.”
Deborah Borda, former president and senior advisor of the New York Philharmonic, said, “Mariko Silver is both a dynamic leader and a gifted collaborator – a rare combination that is a must for the president of Lincoln Center. She brings with her her experience as president of Bennington College, a true ‘hotbed’ of the arts, made even stronger by her vision and the strategic plan she developed and led. Mariko is uniquely positioned to create a strong, unified and vibrant future for Lincoln Center and for the arts more broadly.”
