President George W. Bush announced May 31, 2001, that he has decided to replace Bill Ferris as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Bush intends to nominate Bruce Cole, distinguished professor of fine arts and professor of comparative literature at the Hope School of Fine Arts at Indiana University. Cole was appointed by Bush’s father to the National Council on the Humanities in 1991 (when Lynne Cheney was chair of the NEH) and served on the council until 1999. Ferris will be allowed to complete his term, which ends in November 2001.
On April 24, 2001, Bill Ivey, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), announced his resignation, effective September 30, 2001-eight months before the end of his four-year term. Ivey is credited with achieving a $7 million funding increase for the agency, the NEA’s first budget increase since 1992. The additional funding is earmarked for Challenge America, a program developed under Ivey’s leadership to support arts education, services for young people, cultural heritage preservation, community partnerships, and expanded access to the arts. A replacement for Ivey had not been announced at the time of printing.
