Michael Kaiser

Michael M. Kaiser is the President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. An honors graduate of Brandeis and the MIT Sloan School of Management, he studied vocal music, which instilled within him a passion for the arts. Kaiser hoped for a career as an opera singer, but instead focused his career on management consulting. He joined the Kansas City Ballet in 1985 when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Within two years, Kaiser revamped and energized the troupe's fundraising and attracted critical acclaim through ambitious programming initiatives. In 1991, he joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as executive director. The company faced extreme challenges but Kaiser soon erased its deficit and enhanced their international image. Kaiser became the leader of the American Ballet Theatre in 1995 when the company was struggling and on the brink of closure. He revamped the touring program, reaching out to cities across the United States as well as Asia and Europe, created new education programs to nurture new dancers, and fueled new marketing programs that helped eliminate their accumulated debt. Kaiser was soon hailed in the media as the "Turnaround King" of the arts world. In 1998, he assumed the leadership of the Royal Opera House in London, which faced a projected $30 million deficit and a firestorm of criticism from the public and its patrons. Within two years, the deficit was paid off, a new building was completed, and an endowment fund was established. In 2001, Kaiser joined the Kennedy Center as president, and over the ten years, enhanced the Center's status as the nation's center for the performing arts. He also created an educational forum and fellowship program for young arts administrators. Michael Kaiser addressed the Academy student delegates at the 2005 Achievement Summit in New York City about his career and his challenges as the leader of prestigious non-profit arts institutions.