Robert L. Lynch

Robert L. Lynch is the former president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the national organization dedicated to advancing the arts and arts education in people's lives, schools, and communities. He was executive director of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies for twelve years and managed the merger of that organization with the American Council for the Arts to form Americans for the Arts in 1996. In 2005 he oversaw the merger of the Arts and Business Council, Inc. into Americans for the Arts. In 2005 Bob also created the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and its connected political action committee to engage citizens in advocating for the arts and arts education to ensure arts-friendly public policies. Under his twenty-three years of leadership, the services and membership of Americans for the Arts grew to over fifty times its original size in 1985. He has personally reached audiences in forty-nine states and eight countries, ranging from Native American tribal gatherings to the U.S. Armed Forces in Europe and the president of the United States. Prior to this body of work, Robert L. Lynch was the Director of the Arts Extension Service from 1976 to 1985. Bob currently serves on the board of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, the Arts Extension Institute, and the UMass Amherst College of Humanities and Fine Arts Board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UMass Amherst. Bob plays the piano, mandolin, and guitar, and lives in both Washington, DC and on Cape Cod.