Nancy Lee Kemper Elected to Mid-America Arts Alliance Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 24, 2003

Nancy Lee Kemper Elected to Mid-America Arts Alliance Board of Directors

Kansas City, MO – Nancy Lee Kemper has been elected to the Mid-America Arts Alliance Board of Directors.

A well-known Kansas City civic leader, Mrs. Kemper has served on the Kansas City Art Institute Board since 1990. She was a board member of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation for four years and has been involved in governance of The Central Exchange, an organization dedicated to encouraging the personal and professional growth of women.

Mrs. Kemper has also contributed her time and leadership to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Society of Fellows Council, University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School of Business, and the Heart of America United Way. She volunteers with the Parent Association at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City.

Mrs. Kemper’s philanthropic efforts have exceeded the bounds of her local community: She served on the Wellesley College Board of Trustees in Wellesley, Massachusetts, for five years and has been an overseer for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston since 1998.

Born in New York City and raised in Wayne, Illinois, Mrs. Kemper received a BA in economics from Wellesley College and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She worked for nine years in international and commodity banking at Harris Bank. Mrs. Kemper was also an International Monetary Market member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

She is married to Jonathan Kemper, Chairman of Commerce Bank, Kansas City. They have three children.

The Mid-America Arts Alliance Nominating Committee is responsible for recruiting and nominating new board members. Current Nominating Committee members include Committee Chair Nancy Meinig of Oklahoma, Carolyn Dillon of Kansas, June Freeman of Arkansas, Kay Goebel of Oklahoma, Ruth Keene of Nebraska, Ann Liberman of Missouri, and Terry Pruden of Texas.

Mid-America Arts Alliance, founded in 1972, is a nonprofit regional arts organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. It is governed by a board of directors drawn from its partner states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. Major support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, participant state arts agencies, and leading foundations and corporations. For further information, visit the Mid-America Arts Alliance Web site at www.maaa.org or contact Sarah McGreer at (816) 421-1388.