National Book Foundation deputy director Jordan Smith has been appointed interim executive director of the Foundation, and will succeed current executive director Lisa Lucas, who is leaving to become senior v-p and publisher of Pantheon and Schocken books.
Smith will assume the interim leadership post December 16 at which point Lucas will join the NBF board of directors. Smith, who joined the NBF in 2016, will oversee the organization during the search process for a permanent executive director.
“Having worked alongside Jordan for many, many years, I have complete faith in her ability to ensure that the Foundation’s programs and activities continue to run as smoothly as they are now,” Lucas said in a statement.
Smith said she was “grateful” to Lucas and the NBF board: “I am excited for the opportunity to help shepherd the Foundation during this important transition, and I’m especially pleased to have Lisa’s continued input and connection to our work as part of our Board."
Smith joined NBF as director of education after working for five years in a similar position at the Museum of the Moving Image. In addition, she has been an educator and administrator at a variety of arts organizations in New York City, among them American Folk Art Museum, Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Museum of Modern Art, and Tribeca Film Institute
NBF board chair David Steinberger said until the organization completes the search process to permanently fill the executive director position, "we are very fortunate to have such an experienced and proven leader in deputy director Jordan Smith, and, of course, we are thrilled to welcome Lisa Lucas in her new capacity as a member of the Foundation’s board.”
