President Obama Nominates National Council on the Arts' De Leon & Kang for Key Administration Posts

Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: Maria Lopez De Leon, member, National Council on the Arts, and Emil J. Kang, member, National Council on the Arts.

President Obama said, “I am proud that such experienced and committed individuals have agreed to serve the American people in these important roles. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

Maria Lopez De Leon is the Executive Director and a member of the board of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC). Ms. De Leon has been affiliated with NALAC for thirteen years and has served as Executive Director for ten years. Under Ms. De Leon’s leadership, NALAC launched the Fund for the Arts, a grant program for Latino artists and organizations, completed production of a documentary series on Latino art and culture for PBS, and developed a grant program for cultural exchanges between the US, Mexico, and Central America. Ms. De Leon is an advisory council member of San Anto Cultural Arts, Women of Color in the Arts, and is a fellow of the Rockwood Leadership Institute.

Emil J. Kang is the Executive Director for the Arts and Professor of the Practice of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previously, he served as President and Executive Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has also held positions with the Seattle Symphony and the American Composers Orchestra and was an Orchestra Management Fellow with the League of American Orchestras. Mr. Kang serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and is a member of both the Nominating Committee of the International Society for the Performing Arts and Board of Advisors of the Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Mr. Kang holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester.