Schupbach Takes NEA Role

Jason Schupbach, the first state official in the country tasked with promoting the “creative economy,” will be leaving his position with the Massachusetts Office of Business Development effective May 5 to become director of design at the National Endowment for Arts in Washington, D.C., the NEA announced today. Schupbach’s role at the endowment will be to administer grants to the design sector and design initiatives such as the proposed $5 million “Our Town” project, which will explore the role of the arts in economic revitalization and community improvement. “Jason has set a national standard here in Massachusetts for connecting the various and diverse sectors of the creative economy to the public and academic agencies throughout the state,” Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki said in a statement. “He has been a critical resource for innovation and collaboration for the Commonwealth, and I’m certain he will offer the same to the NEA.” Last fall Xconomy profiled Schupbach and his efforts to boost Massachusetts business sectors such as advertising, architecture, design, digital media, film, gaming, marketing, music, publishing, tourism, and the arts, which collectively employ more than 100,000 people in the Bay State. “This was a bit of an unexpected opportunity, and I’m very excited about the possibilities it holds,” Schupbach said in an e-mail.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/