Kenyon College names Diane Nance as director of corporate and foundation relations

GAMBIER, Ohio (August 2, 2006)

Kenyon College has named Diane Nance, formerly vice president for programs for the Greater Columbus Arts Council, to be its new director of corporate and foundation relations in the College Relations division. In this newly expanded position, Nance will enable the College to maximize its potential in government, foundation, and corporate support. She will begin work September 1.

Nance served for nearly nineteen years at GCAC, where she administered the city's $2 million annual grant program for individual artists and arts organizations, as well as the $7.1 million National Arts Stabilization Program, funded by corporate sponsorships and a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. She was a co-administrator of the Columbus Foundation's Community Arts Fund, which provides operating support to small- and medium-sized arts organizations. Nance was instrumental in establishing Children of the Future, an AmeriCorps program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Services; administering Franklin County's arts education assessment, funded by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund; and directing Columbus's Public Arts Task Force to create a program to preserve and commission public art.

Prior to her tenure at GCAC, Nance served as technical assistance coordinator for the Ohio Arts Council. She is an adjunct professor at Otterbein College in arts administration and is pursuing graduate studies in art and art education at the Ohio State University, where she also earned a bachelor's degree.

"Diane's match of extensive grants experience and teaching at a liberal arts college fits perfectly with Kenyon's funding programs that support teaching and learning in an undergraduate setting," said Sarah Kahrl, vice president for college relations at Kenyon. "Her funding expertise and strength in project development will help expand the College's national grants program."

Kenyon, rated among the nation's top liberal arts colleges, raised over $24 million in its 2005 fiscal year for capital, endowment, and operating programs.

"It's an honor to join Kenyon's staff," said Nance. "The college has an excellent reputation, outstanding faculty and staff, and wonderful students. It's a golden opportunity, and I'm eager to begin my work with them all."

Founded in 1824, Kenyon College is the oldest private college in Ohio. Located in Gambier, the coeducational institution has approximately 1,600 students and offers a challenging curriculum that embraces the traditional humanities, arts, and sciences along with interdisciplinary programs and study-abroad opportunities.