The NAST Board of Directors has appointed Samuel H. Hope as Executive Director Emeritus, effective January 1, 2014, in honor of his years of distinguished service to NAST.
Samuel Hope served as the chief staff officer of NAST since the organization joined its sister arts accreditation associations in the Reston, Virginia National Office in 1981 through his retirement December 31, 2013. As such, he served as an ex officio member of its Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and Finance Committee; and as Recorder for the Commission on Accreditation and the Committee on Ethics.
Along with NAST, Samuel Hope also was Executive Director of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the National Association of Schools of Music, the National Association of Schools of Dance, Higher Education Arts Data Services, and the Council of Arts Accrediting Associations. He served as representative to the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors on behalf of NAST and the other arts accrediting associations, and held various positions with that organization. From 1984 to 2011 he was Executive Editor of Arts Education Policy Review, a professional journal.
He earned the Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale University (1970), and the Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester (1967), both in music composition. He was a composition student of Nadia Boulanger in France. He holds the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Marywood University (2001) and Maryland Institute College of Art (2007).