Rick Alan Kinsel
Rick Kinsel is the president of the Vilcek Foundation, where he oversees the Vilcek Foundation Art Collections and the implementation of programs that support and spotlight immigrant contributions to the United States.
Previously, he received a bachelor’s degree from the Ohio State University, then served as Director of Cultural Affairs at Coty Inc. in New York until 2003. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he served as the Cataloguer in charge of acquisitions. During his tenure there, he earned a master’s degree in the history of decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center.
He has advised on collections and curated exhibitions for organizations such as the Museum of Modern Art, Pen + Brush, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He has served on the board of directors of Sheeba Records, based in Toronto, and the International Perfume Bottle Association, and currently serves on the board of directors for New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
In 2013, he was selected by the Museum of Arts and Design as the recipient of the MAD Visionaries! Award for outstanding leadership and creativity in the arts. He is also a founding member of the Friends of Arms and Armor group at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a member of the Collections Committee of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma; and in 2016, he was honored by the Theatre Communications Group for his work in promoting diversity, inclusiveness, and equity in American theatre.
Additionally, he has produced films and plays, judged design competitions, and is the editor of the award-winning cookbook, A Place at the Table: New American Recipes from the Nation’s Top Foreign-Born Chefs.
