FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 26, 2007
Julie Levak, Director of External Affairs, California Council for the Humanities
(415) 391-1474
jlevak@calhum.org
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Council for the Humanities today announced that Dr. Jim Quay will retire next March after serving as executive director since 1983.
Under Quay’s leadership, the Council has become California’s premier funder of both documentary films and public programs that use the humanities to strengthen community. In 2002 the Council launched the California Stories initiative, a series of statewide campaigns creating occasions for Californians to share and discuss stories about coming to and living in California. The latest campaign, “How I See It,” invites the state's young people to share — in their own words and through a variety of media — what their lives are like, what they care about, and what it’s like to grow up in today’s California.
“Because people from all over the world have chosen to come here, the culture we are making in California is watched with special attention,” Quay said. “During my years at CCH, I’ve been inspired by the stories of the men and women who’ve made their home here — the challenges they face and their attempts to create a future together. I leave with deep admiration and gratitude for the hundreds of project directors and the many members of the CCH board and staff with whom it has been my privilege to work. Their passion and energy are helping to create a culture of hope in a world that desperately needs it.”
Douglas Greenberg, chairman of the Council’s Board of Directors and president and chief executive officer of the USC Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education, said “For almost 25 years, Jim Quay’s leadership of the Council has been brilliant and visionary,” He has earned a well-deserved reputation in California and throughout the national public humanities community for thoughtful program design, deeply considered ideas and principled advocacy. When he leaves us in a year’s time he will also leave a record of remarkable achievement. He will be greatly missed, but we are happy that he will continue to lead the Council in the year ahead, even as we begin the search for his successor.”
A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Quay earned a B.A. in English literature from Lafayette College and served two years as a caseworker in central Harlem as a conscientious objector. He moved to California in 1970 and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley.
Prior to taking his position with CCH, he was humanist-in-residence and associate producer with California Public Radio, where he co-produced an award-winning series, “Vietnam Reconsidered: Lessons from a War.” He is co-editor of “California Uncovered: Stories for the Twenty-First Century,” published in 2005 by Heyday Books, and co-author of "Making Connections: The Humanities, Culture, and Community," published as part of a National Task Force on Scholarship and the Public Humanities by the American Council of Learned Societies.
Greenberg said the Council will undertake a nationwide search for Quay’s successor.
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