NEH Chairman Bruce Cole Will Leave Post in January

Bruce Cole, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities for the past seven years, announced yesterday he is leaving in January to join the American Revolution Center in Valley Forge, Pa.

His departure gives the incoming administration of Barack Obama the opportunity to name the heads of both national endowments. Dana Gioia, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, announced in September that he will be leaving the first of the year to join the Aspen Institute, an international organization that conducts forums on contemporary issues.

Cole, 70, a Renaissance art scholar and former distinguished professor at Indiana University, was the longest-serving NEH chairman and expanded its public reach and partnerships through traditional programs and digital initiatives.

In his tenure, Cole worked to revive the teaching of humanities, particularly history and culture, in America's classrooms. "We the People," a program that offered workshops for teachers and distributed American-themed books to libraries, was launched by President Bush in the White House Rose Garden in 2002. Another project to help students learn more about American character and stories is "Picturing America." This fall the NEH awarded 36,000 reproductions of American artworks to Head Start centers, schools and public libraries.

That project is Cole's personal favorite, "mainly because of its quality and reach," Cole said yesterday. "By using masterpieces of American art, we are teaching in a more direct way with images. We are introducing people to art and the great gift that art can give them." The total number of grants awarded in "Picturing America" will exceed all the grants made in the 43-year history of NEH, Cole said.

The American Revolution Center has plans to construct two buildings, an information center about the region and a museum and education facility solely devoted to the war.