ICB Board Members
Robert R. Hesse, Ed.D.
Chairman, Indianapolis City Ballet
In this volunteer position, Dr. Hesse oversees all Indianapolis City Ballet’s operations. Encouraged by members of the community, he began developing a concept in November 2007 that called for the re-emergence of a professional ballet of national and international stature in Indianapolis. Dr. Hesse is pleased to see this vision begin to come to fruition.
Dr. Hesse has had an outstanding career as a leader in the arts as Executive Director of the Joffrey Ballet, arts presenter as President of Chautauqua Institution, in education as President of Medaille College, and fund raising as senior vice president for UNICEF in the United States, as well as additional experience at these and other institutions. His creative talent, innovative spirit and extensive experience brought him to leadership positions in a variety of exciting and challenging settings.
Dr. Hesse’s superior arts management skills lead him to the position of Executive Director of the Joffrey Ballet as it planned to become a bi-coastal company with homes and seasons in both New York City and Los Angeles. On the verge of bankruptcy at his arrival, Dr. Hesse’s turnaround efforts combined tight budgetary controls and intense fund raising while adding new repertoire with improved promotion. Within one year he balanced the budget, increased operating income by 50%, grew funding by 30% and New York City box office by 63%.
As the chief development and public affairs officer for the United States Committee for UNICEF, in just three years Dr. Hesse doubled funding income (to $22 million) and produced large-scale, national events. He firmly established the Change for Good program that still today collects foreign coins on international flights (and has collected an estimated $30 million + so far). In 1988 he presented Audrey Hepburn on the three morning network shows simultaneously to follow her account of a UNICEF trip to tour the devastation and plight of the children of Ethiopia. He later created a national tour of the “Diary of Anne Frank”, which Audrey Hepburn narrated to a score composed and conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
Dr. Hesse served as Director of Communications Services for the American College Public Relations Association (now CASE) in Washington, D.C. and later as President of Medaille College in Buffalo. He returned to the arts as President of Chautauqua Institution, the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive summer arts festival. While at Chautauqua, he produced more than 350 different programs during each annual 63-day season and drew 10,000 daily visitors and residents for which his efforts were recognized in Forbes magazine.
In 1989, he founded Robert Hesse Associates, LLC where he remains an advisor. The firm assists clients with strategic planning, marketing, special events, public relations, annual, capital and endowment campaigns, management and executive searches. UNICEF, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Carnegie Hall, San Diego Cares, the City of Wilmington, Delaware, the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, Human Rights Action Center, Foundation for Excellent Schools and Career Transition for Dancers are just a few of the organizations the firm has helped to reach their goals.
Dr. Hesse is a former professional violinist with the Erie Philharmonic, the Faculty Orchestra at SUNY Fredonia, Amherst Symphony, Utica Symphony and Seventh Army Symphony and also managed the Utica Symphony and the Seventh Army Symphony. He earned his doctorate in higher education at the State University of New York at Buffalo.