Maria Rosario Jackson is a tenured Institute Professor in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and holds an appointment in the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions.

For more than 25 years, Maria Rosario Jackson’s work has focused on understanding and elevating arts, culture, and design as critical elements of healthy communities.

Jackson is the first African American and Mexican American to lead the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Statement from Maria Rosario Jackson:
I am honored to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and excited to build on the arts endowment’s strong work to serve all communities across our nation through the power of the arts. Read more here.

Statement from Dean Steven Tepper (Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts):
Maria is the nation’s foremost public intellectual when it comes to thinking about the evolution and value of arts and culture in the U.S. She has consistently broadened our frame of understanding about the arts and how they contribute to healthy communities, and she is the right person at the right time for helping the nation understand that arts, culture and design are key elements of a thriving democracy.

Statement from President Michael Crow:
Professor Maria Rosario Jackson is one of the most powerful creative leaders in America and will lead the National Endowment of the Arts to new levels of social and cultural impact. This is an exciting moment for the NEA and we are expecting great new things.