Dick Deasy

executive director, Arts Education Partnership

Richard "Dick" J. Deasy has been the director of the Arts Education Partnership since its founding. He has led AEP's efforts to produce seminal reports and research studies that demonstrate the positive impact of the arts on students, schools and communities and that provide guidance to policy-makers and practitioners on how to create that impact. He co-authored the book, *Third Space: When Learning Matters *with Lauren M. Stevenson. He also commissioned and edited AEP's compendium of studies, *Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development.* Prior to assuming the leadership of AEP, Deasy has been a senior official in two state departments of education, responsible for the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment and legislative relations. He has also served as chief executive of an international and cultural exchange organization, and was an award-winning journalist. Deasy has also taught at the secondary and university levels.