Jay Kislak and CPAC -- An Appreciation

Jay Kislak, the current CPAC chair, is evidently stepping down from his position.

This was put up on the White House Web Site on 7/15, but I only recently became aware of it:

The President intends to appoint the following individuals to be Members of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, for the remainder of three-year terms expiring 04/25/10:

Ronald R. Hall, of Texas (International Sales Expert)
David B. Jones, of Texas (Public)
James Lorand Matory, of Massachusetts (Anthropology)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080715-2.html

Messrs. Jones and Hall are new to CPAC. Professor Matory is a current member.

David B. Jones is evidently the managing partner of Dini Partners, a management consulting firm in Houston. You can read more about it here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS240816+14-Feb-2008+BW20080214

Ronald R. Hall is president of Hall Galleries, which appears to deal in paintings. He is apparently replacing Meredith J. Long in one of the CPAC "dealer slots."

As the other public member (Winton Holladay) is a recent appointee, Mr. Kislak must be stepping down from his position as a "public" member and as CPAC chair. Who will take on the position of CPAC Chair will be of interest.

Jay Kislak is probably best known for his service as a naval aviator in WWII, his successful career in real estate and his extremely generous contributions to the Library of Congress. See: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/kislak/kislak-about.html However, anyone interested in CPAC and how it operates can't but also appreciate Mr. Kislak's efforts to bring a level of transparency and fairness of process to CPAC's proceedings. He will be much missed in his role as Chairman. I'm afraid it may be quite some time before anyone else in that position tries to take on the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) bureaucracy. Yet, if anything, the need is even greater today given the apparent predisposition of the ECA to view the process as nothing more than a rubber stamp for the imposition of the broadest import restrictions possible.