Kathryn Heidemann

President & CEO, Cleveland Institute of Art

Education: Master’s degree in arts management and graduate certificate in managing AI systems, Carnegie Mellon University; bachelor’s degree, Columbia College Chicago

What Success Looks Like to Me: Learning — always! Learning from the best moments, learning from the worst moments and upholding gratitude with an “I get to” vs. “I have to” mindset every day

If I Could Trade Places With Anyone: I am happy to “just” be me, but it would be fun to trade places with Carole King for a while. As a prolific songwriter and recording artist who broke the glass ceiling at a very young age — and in a very male-dominated industry — I’d love to learn from her and these experiences.

What Motivates Me Right Now: The higher ed sector is going through seismic headwinds due to shifting demographics, an eroding public trust in higher education, an increased political and regulatory environment and technological disruption due to AI. However, with a sector change comes a huge opportunity to rethink and reimagine the future of what art/design college looks like, double down on our opportunities to innovate and grow our value as a creative catalyst of the regional innovation economy.