CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. August 29, 2023 – Following a national search, Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of Jordan Steves as Emily and Richard Smucker Chair of Education. Steves has been serving as Interim Smucker Chair since March. 

Senior Vice President and Chief Program Officer Deborah Sunya Moore said Steves’s legacy of service and leadership position Chautauqua to build on the strengths of these core education programs. 

“This position is about preserving the depth of history, exploring new potential of the Chautauqua Lecture Series and other education programs while also creating stability, fostering trust and working collaboratively with cherished and future partners as we enter into our next 150 years,” Moore said.   

Chautauqua President Michael E. Hill, Ed.D., said Steves embodies Chautauqua’s mission. 

“Jordan has always exemplified Chautauqua’s mission, whether through his leadership of The Chautauquan Daily or in his various his support roles for the Chautauqua Lecture Series,” Hill said. “But this spring and summer, he truly stepped up and into the role of Smucker Chair, and I couldn’t be more pleased that our national search led us to a person who is already celebrated at Chautauqua and will soon be celebrated more widely for his intellect, grace and vision.” 

Steves accepts the appointment with great humility and eagerness to continue to help others discover the joy that Chautauqua’s mission has brought to his own life. 

“Many will recognize, myself chief among them, the awesome responsibility and privilege of shepherding some of Chautauqua’s signature programs and partnerships. It has been the honor of my career to serve as interim Smucker Chair, and I step into the permanent role with a deep sense of care and reverence for this community and mission, and understanding the need to continue to broaden, deepen and diversify our connections in and to the world,” Steves said. 

Prior to his interim appointment as Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education, Steves served Chautauqua as Director of Strategic Communications from 2017 to March of 2023. He began his service at Chautauqua full-time in 2009, first as the Chautauqua Lecture Series lecture associate within the Department of Education before moving to the Marketing and Communications department in 2014. His initial Chautauqua experience was in 2007 as an intern with The Chautauquan Daily. He later served as the newspaper’s editor from 2014 to 2017. 

About Chautauqua Institution 
Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State, where approximately 7,500 persons are in residence on any day during a nine-week season, and a total of more than 100,000 attend scheduled public events and even more engage online via the streaming channel CHQ Assembly. Chautauqua is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts. The Institution launched its 150th Summer Assembly June 24, 2023, and will celebrate its Sesquicentennial in 2024. 

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