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Jon Parrish Peede
Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
In office
May 3, 2018 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byWilliam Drea Adams
Succeeded byAdam Wolfson (acting)
Personal details
BornMississippi, U.S.
Alma materVanderbilt University
University of Mississippi

Jon Parrish Peede is an American book editor and literary review publisher, who served as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2018 to 2021.[1]

Early life

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Jon Parrish Peede was born in Mississippi,[2] and he grew up in Brandon, Mississippi.[3] His father was Dr Robert Louis Peede Sr and his mother, Mary Ann Parrish.[4] He has three brothers.[4]

Peede graduated from Vanderbilt University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English.[2] He attended the University of Mississippi, where one of his professors was William R. Ferris,[5] and he earned a master's degree in Southern Studies.[2] Peede and Ferris both served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Career

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Peede was a book editor for the Mercer University Press from 1994 to 1996.[2] He served as director of publications and later director of communications at Millsaps College from 1997 to 2003.[6] He worked for the National Endowment for the Arts in senior roles from 2003 to 2011, including four years as director of literature grants.[2] He was the publisher of the Virginia Quarterly Review at the University of Virginia from 2011 to 2016.[2][7]

When William Drea Adams resigned as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities in May 2017, Peede became "the Trump administration’s new liaison to the N.E.H.".[7] As acting chair in October 2017, he acknowledged that President Donald J. Trump wanted to eliminate the agency or at least reduce the budget.[8] In March 2018, Peede was nominated by President Trump to become the new chair of the NEH.[9] He was confirmed in April 2018.[10][11] With bipartisan support in Congress, the agency budget dramatically increased during Peede's tenure from $147.9 million to $167.5 million.[12] He also oversaw the federal agency's awarding of $75 million in CARES Act funding in direct grants and through state humanities council partnerships.[13]

In January 2021, Peede resigned as the head of the federal agency. In a press release, the NEH credited him with creating a new category of grants to support infrastructure and capacity-building at humanities institutions, awarding emergency grants for cultural organizations affected by natural disasters, funding a partnership with the First Nations Development Institute to support the revitalization of Native American languages, and creating the "A More Perfect Union" grant program to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026.[14]

Peede is a frequent advocate for improved K–12 teaching of U.S. history and civic education, and he awarded funding to create the Educating for American Democracy initiative that included 300 higher education and nonprofit partners and scholars.[15] In partnership with the Teagle Foundation under the leadership of Andrew Delbanco, Peede provided NEH funding to support faculty salaries and programmatic expenses for undergraduate general education programs that include classics as well as contemporary literary works by authors of diverse backgrounds.[16]

Peede is the co-editor of a collection of essays about Flannery O'Connor. He has written for numerous journals, magazines, and other publications, often on Southern culture.[17][18]

His awards include an honorary degree from Manchester Community College in New Hampshire in 2019 and the President’s Medal of Distinction from California State University, Fresno in 2019.[19][20]

On March 27, 2024, Peede was selected as the 31st President of Ashland University. He began his role on June 1, 2024.[21]

Personal life

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Peede has a wife and a daughter.[5]

Works

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  • McMullen, Joanne Halleran; Peede, Jon Parrish, eds. (2007). Inside the Church of Flannery O'Connor: Sacrament, Sacramental, and the Sacred in Her Fiction. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780881460551. OCLC 301226088.

References

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  1. ^ "President Joe Biden Announces Acting Federal Agency Leadership". The White House. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "President Trump Nominates Jon Parrish Peede as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities". National Endowment for the Humanities. March 2, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  3. ^ "Celebrating the Holtzclaw Legacy: Acting National Endowment for Humanities chairman visits Hinds CC's Utica Campus". The Clinton Courrier. November 28, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Mary Ann Peede". The Clarion Ledger. April 21, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Peede, Jon Parrish (December 2017). "The Humanities in Relationship". Humanities Texas. Retrieved March 3, 2018. I am in relationship with everyone and everything that I love in the world: my wife, my daughter, our nation; God, books, trees, nature; libraries, museums, music; the arts, schools, learning.
  6. ^ Kingfish (2017-08-01). "Mississippi kid makes good". Jackson Jambalaya. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  7. ^ a b Deb, Sopan (May 22, 2017). "N.E.H. Chairman to Step Down, Citing Personal Reasons". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  8. ^ Buie, Jordan (October 6, 2017). "Humanities chair says cuts could come, but state is in good shape". The Tennessean. p. A6. Retrieved March 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Jaschik, Scott (March 2, 2018). "Trump Picks Jon Parrish Peede to Lead NEH". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  10. ^ Jaschik, Scott (April 27, 2018). "Senate Confirms Leader for Humanities Endowment". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  11. ^ "Trump Has Yet to Award the National Arts Medals for 2016". The New York Times. July 16, 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  12. ^ "NEH Appropriations History". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  13. ^ "NEH Announces $40 million in CARES Act Grants". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  14. ^ "NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede Announces Resignation". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  15. ^ iCivics. "Team of 300 Researchers Releases The Roadmap To Educating For American Democracy, a Groundbreaking Initiative to Establish Goals for 21st Century History And Civic Education". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  16. ^ "Colleges must revive general education (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  17. ^ Peede, Jon Parrish. "A sense of place: Honoring Eudora Welty". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  18. ^ "Castro honors NEH chairman at convocation for College of Arts and Humanities – Fresno State News". 28 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  19. ^ "MCC's 73rd Commencement". www.mccnh.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  20. ^ "Castro honors NEH chairman at convocation for College of Arts and Humanities – Fresno State News". 28 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  21. ^ "President Peede feeling "overjoyed" in first month on campus". Ashland University. June 28, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
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