Former Bennington College head Mariko Silver to become Lincoln Center president in September

Former Bennington College head Mariko Silver was hired Wednesday as president of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The 46-year-old replaces Henry Timms, who is leaving after five years. Silver will start Sept. 23.

“I grew up in the glow of Lincoln Center and the arts were so important to me in formulating who I am and what I hope to bring to the world,” Silver said Wednesday.

Silver will join planning that has begun for a redevelopment of the western side of Lincoln Center's campus, for six decades far less visible than the eastern side in which most people enter from Broadway.

“The opportunity to build that bridge and to create a whole new inspiring and aspirational focal point for Lincoln Center, for New York City, for the performing arts, is just extraordinary,” she said. “It will absolutely move forward.”

Lincoln Center is the home of 11 arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet. Under Timms and Shanta Thake, hired in 2021 as chief artistic officer, Lincoln Center has de-emphasized classical music in its own programming and promoted a variety of genres, some pay-as-you-wish.

“We want to make Lincoln Center inspirational and aspirational for everyone, and there are so many different ways to do that,” she said. "We are devoted to the classical arts. Of course, that is a core of what the Lincoln Center does.”

Silver received a bachelor's degree from Yale, a master's degree from the University of Sussex in Britain and a doctorate in economic geography from UCLA. She worked in the administrations at Arizona State and Columbia, then served in the Obama administration as acting assistant secretary for international affairs and deputy assistant secretary for international policy in the Department of Homeland Security.

She was president of Bennington from July 2013 until July 2019, when she quit to become president of the Henry Luce Foundation.

Silver remembered attending Lincoln Center events growing up, including “The Nutcracker,” “Sarafina!” Cecilia Bartoli at the Met in "Così Fan Tutte” and “Anything Goes,” starring Patti LuPone.

“I saw it three times,” Silver said.