Robert van Leer has been named Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. He will assume the post on April 1. Van Leer is an accomplished arts administrator with experience in renowned arts organizations in the United States and Europe. Most recently, van Leer served as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Senior Vice President of Artistic Planning. In overseeing

a $90 million budget, he expanded Kennedy Center’s classical and contemporary programming, including the addition of Hip Hop Culture and Social Impact.

Van Leer began his arts administration career at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York and worked in London as an executive administrator at the Wigmore Hall then as Head of Music and Arts Projects at the Barbican Centre. Subsequently, he became Managing Director of Nederlands Dans Theatre, where he reenvisioned the mission of the company as a leading international creative ensemble. He also led Wonderbird UK, a boutique cultural consultancy that advised cultural and corporate clients on social, cultural, and fundraising policy.

Van Leer, who is a native of Rochester, New York, holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University and earned an advanced certification from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program. He also earned a postgraduate degree in landscape design at the UK’s Inchbald School of Design.