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Kathryn Heidemann became the Cleveland Institute of Art's 11th president on July 1, 2022. A senior arts management and higher education leader, educator and artist, she first joined CIA in 2019 as Vice President of Academic Affairs + Dean of Faculty. In her role as the College’s chief academic officer, she was responsible for program and curricular development and delivery, academic operations and strategy, student affairs, and accreditation and assessment.

Heidemann played a key role in the development of CIA’s most recent strategic plan, led the college’s successful reaccreditation process and led its COVID-19 academic planning, which resulted in the school safely offering in-person instruction. She also was instrumental in founding the Jane B. Nord Center for Teaching + Learning.

Prior to coming to CIA, Heidemann worked at Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as Assistant Dean at the College of Fine Arts and Heinz College of Public Policy &

Kathryn Heidemann became the Cleveland Institute of Art's 11th president on July 1, 2022. A senior arts management and higher education leader, educator and artist, she first joined CIA in 2019 as Vice President of Academic Affairs + Dean of Faculty. In her role as the College’s chief academic officer, she was responsible for program and curricular development and delivery, academic operations and strategy, student affairs, and accreditation and assessment.

Heidemann played a key role in the development of CIA’s most recent strategic plan, led the college’s successful reaccreditation process and led its COVID-19 academic planning, which resulted in the school safely offering in-person instruction. She also was instrumental in founding the Jane B. Nord Center for Teaching + Learning.

Prior to coming to CIA, Heidemann worked at Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as Assistant Dean at the College of Fine Arts and Heinz College of Public Policy & Information Systems Management. As part of her role, she also spearheaded the arts and entertainment management graduate programs in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, creating data- and tech-informed leaders in the visual arts, performing arts, and interactive and entertainment media.

Heidemann brought two decades of arts industry experience to her work at CIA, having worked in artistic programming, operations, external relations, and education and community engagement for a variety of cultural institutions, including The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Chicago Academy for the Arts and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to name a few.

Heidemann holds a Master of Arts Management (MAM) degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College Chicago.