Chautauqua Institution Appoints Michael Hill President

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. (AP) — The Chautauqua Institution has chosen a new president.

Michael Hill, who leads a nonprofit educational organization, will take over the western New York retreat upon Tom Becker's retirement at the end of the year.

Hill, whose appointment was announced Friday, is the president and chief executive of Youth for Understanding USA, which supports cultural exchange programs.

The Norfolk, New York, native was a founding faculty member of the master of arts management program at George Mason University and is a former director of the Quick Arts Center at St. Bonaventure University.

Becker is retiring after 13 years as president at Chautauqua.

Hill has a bachelor's degree in journalism from St. Bonaventure and a master's degree in arts and cultural management from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.

[STORY BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS]