Director

Supervises:AndrewW.MellonHumanitiesProfessor;AndrewHeiskellArtsDirector;Drue Heinz Librarian and Head of Collections; and Deputy Director for Fellowships and Programs

Term:Three-yearappointment,renewable.StartdateAugust 2027

Foundedin1894,theAmericanAcademyinRomeisaleadingAmericanoverseascenter for independent study and advanced research in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Academy awards the Rome Prize to approximately 30 artists and scholars who join a dynamic, transdisciplinary residential community on the Academy’s eleven-acre campus on the Janiculum Hill—enriched further by invited Residents and Affiliated and Visiting Artists and Scholars, reaching a community of approximately 100 at any given time.

TheAcademyisledbythePresident&CEO,whosetsitsdirectionandservesasitschief fundraiser and public representative. A Chief Operating Officer manages the Academy’s business and administrative functions across Rome and New York. The Director is responsible for the daily intellectual and communal life of the residential community. The Andrew Heiskell Arts Director and Andrew W. Mellon Humanities Professor report to the Director and, together with the Director, constitute the Academy’s intellectual leadership team in Rome—the primary intellectual resources for the Rome Prize Fellows and the animating force behind the Academy’s scholarly and creative life.

Role TheDirectoristheon-campusfigureresponsibleformanagingtheday-to-dayintellectualandcommunity lifeoftheAmericanAcademyinRome.Thisisarolevelforamanartistorscholarofgenuine distinctionwhobyisismodginginexperience, a community builder. The Director leads an intellectual team consisting of the Mellon Humanities Professor, Heiskell Arts Director, and Drue Heinz Librarian and Head of Collections.

The Director gives shape and texture to the residential community through programming and also through attention to the work of those in the community. The Director must be someone who understands that theconditionsinwhichcreativeandscholarlyworkunfolds are themselves a form of institutional authorship. The Director works closely with the Deputy Director for Fellowships and Programs on implementation and budget.

Asheadofthecommunity,theDirectorisalsoaconnector,soundingboard,and promotor of all the fellows’work.Thesefunctionsaretwosidesofthesamecoinbecause community creates trust; trust encourages risk-taking; and risk-takingproducesthe breakthroughs the Academy exists to generate.

TheDirectoristheAcademy’spublicfaceinRome:anintellectualandculturaldiplomat who represents the institution in the city's artistic, academic, and civic life.

Key Responsibilities

Serve as the primary intellectual resource for Rome Prize Fellows across the full rangeoftheAcademy’sfellowshipdisciplinesinthehumanities(Ancient,Medieval, Renaissance, Early Modern and, Modern Italian Studies, as well as Conservation and Historic Preservation) and in the arts (Architecture, Design, Landscape Architecture, Literature, Musical Composition, and Visual Art), offering substantive engagement with Fellows’ work and the intellectual generosity that makes the Academy’s residential experience distinctive.

WorkinclosepartnershipwiththeHumanitiesProfessorandArtsDirectortoensure that the scholarly and creative life of the community reflects the Academy’s commitment to transdisciplinary excellence; stimulate dialogue and exchange among Fellows, Residents, and guests across disciplines.

Enrich Fellows’ experience of Rome through introductions to the city’s artistic and scholarlycommunitiesandmaintainanactiveintellectualorcreativepracticewithin the constraints of the role.

Setanexampletothecommunityofwhatthelifeofthemindlookslike.

InconsultationwiththePresident,shapeandexecutetheAcademy’sintellectual programminginRome, ensuring events reflect the Academy’s transdisciplinary identity and the creative energy of each year’s residential community.

ServeasamemberoftheBoardofTrusteesinanexofficiocapacity,contributing to governance discussions on mattersofintellectual life,fellowship programming, and campus community.

Community Stewardship

Sustain the quality of communal life as a core institutional responsibility: attend mealswiththeresidentialcommunitywheneverpossible;bepresentateveningand weekend programs; and be available to FellowsandResidentsintheinformalways that matter most in a residential community.

Foster an environmentofintellectual generosity,mutual respect,and creative risk-taking,upholdingtheAcademy’svaluesofexcellencewithoutelitism,collaboration across disciplines, and responsibility to the broader public.

Entertain frequently and graciously, hosting Fellows, scholars, artists, Trustees, donors,institutionalpartners,anddignitaries,whilealsosharingon-calldutieswith staff, responding to emergencies as needed.

ExternalEngagementandInstitutional Representation

Represent the Academy in Rome’s cultural, academic, and civic life, building relationshipswithItalianscholars,artists,institutions,andgovernmentofficialsthat deepen the Academy’s presence in the city.

HostvisitingTrustees,donors,andprospectsincoordinationwiththeDevelopment, Communications, Programs, and Executive Office teams; represent the Academy externally with leaders in the arts, academia, philanthropy, and government in Rome and beyond.

Qualifications Required

A graduate degree and a record of outstanding professional achievement in one or moreoftheAcademy’sRomePrizeFellowshipdisciplines,withabodyofpublished or exhibited work commensurate with high standing.

Demonstratedexperienceleadinganeducational,cultural,orartsinstitution—ora comparably complex organization—with a proven ability to build community, manage relationships across constituencies, and represent an institution with authority and grace.

FluencyinspokenandwrittenItalian;theabilitytooperateeffectivelyinItalian professional, cultural, and civic contexts is essential.

Exceptionalintellectualgenerosity:theabilitytoengagesubstantivelywithcreative and scholarly work across a wide range of disciplines and to support the work of others with genuine investment.

Superior interpersonal skills, with experience mentoring talented individuals, buildingtrustacrossdiversecommunities,andnavigatingcomplexinstitutional relationships with tact, discretion, and judgment.

Thesocialfluencyandstaminatosustainademandingpublicandcommunalrole: comfort entertaining frequently and being present in community life.

WillingnesstotravelwithinItalyandbetweenRomeandNewYork,andflexibilityto work outside standard hours given the Academy’s evening and weekend programming, as well as its operation across time zones.

Preferred

Existing established relationships with Italian scholars, artists, and cultural and academicinstitutionsinRome;familiaritywiththeartistic and cultural landscapeof Rome and Italy.

ExperiencelivingandworkinginItalyoranotherinternationalcontext,with demonstrated cross-cultural fluency.

Experience interacting with institutional leaders, public officials, and board members,includingthoseofforeigngovernmentsorinternationalinstitutions.

Leadership Profile TheidealcandidatewillberecognizedbyFellows,colleagues,andpeersinRomeforthe following qualities:

Intellectualpresence. A scholar or artistofreal distinction who commands respect acrossdisciplinesnotbecauseofinstitutionalauthority,butbecausetheypossessa mind worth engaging.

Disciplinaryrange.

Thecapacityandgenuinedesiretoengagewithworkfar outside one’s own field, to ask a good question of a composer, to follow the argument of a historian, to understand the task of a conservator.

Communityinstinct. Anintuitiveunderstandingthatthequalityofcommunallife—the table, the conversation, the informal encounter—is not peripheral to the Academy’s mission but constitutive of it.

Executive clarity. The ability to translate the President’s vision for the Academy into a coherent, living program and exercising independent judgment within a sharedinstitutionalframeworkandworkingeffectivelyalongsidealeadershipteam whose domains are operations, fundraising, and communications.

Roman fluency. A genuine connection to Rome—its culture, its institutions, its rhythms that allowstheDirectortomovethroughthecityasaparticipantrather than a visitor.

Missionconviction. AnauthenticbeliefinwhattheAcademydoes,whyitmatters, in the value of sustained individual creative and scholarly work, in Rome as an irreplaceable context for that work, and in the Academy’s unique role in American cultural life.

Compensation& Location ThispositionisbasedinRome,Italy.TheDirector isprovidedwithon-campushousingas a condition of employment, reflecting the residential nature of the role. Secondment appointments will be compensated in accordance with the terms of the secondment.

Salaryrangefordirectemploymentis$130,000–$200,000,basedonexperienceand qualifications.The Academy offers a comprehensive benefits package.

The American Academy in Rome is an Equal Opportunity Employer. AAR believes that a diverse community makes for a stronger institution, and actively encourages applications from candidates of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. We are committed to a hiring process that is equitable, inclusive, and free from bias.

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