The Role of American Institutions in Shaping Culture with Crosby Kemper III

Economy | September 10, 2024

By James V. Shuls and Crosby Kemper III | Read Time 1 min

James V. Shuls speaks with Crosby Kemper III, former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, former executive director of the Kansas City Public Library, and co-founder and former chairman of the Show-Me Institute, about the role of American institutions in shaping culture. They explore the impact of libraries, museums, and other cultural pillars on society, the ways in which these institutions influence public discourse and community engagement, the challenges they face in an evolving cultural landscape, and more.

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Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

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About the Author

James V. Shuls

James V. Shuls is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Missouri St. Louis. His work has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Phi Delta Kappan, Social Science Quarterly, Education Week, The Rural Educator, Educational Policy, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He earned his Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas. He holds a bachelors degree from Missouri Southern State University and a masters degree from Missouri State University, both in elementary education. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, James taught first grade and fifth grade in southwest Missouri.

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About the Author

Crosby Kemper III

Crosby Kemper III is former director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; executive director of the Kansas City Public Library; the chair of the Schools, Health, Libraries, and Broadband (SHLB) coalition; and former CEO of UMB Financial Corporation. He co-founded and is the former chairman of the Show-Me Institute. He has taught English at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, and been a bookseller in Grand Central Station in New York City. In 2003-04, he chaired the Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Missouri for then-Missouri Gov. Bob Holden. He has served on the board of the boards of the Kansas City Symphony, the Black Archives of Mid-America, Union Station Kansas City, and Laphams Quarterly. He helped Marilyn Strauss found the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and was its first board chair. He also founded and chaired the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. He has received the Difference Maker Award from the Urban League of Kansas City, the William F. Yates Medallion for Distinguished Service from William Jewell College, and the 2010 Harmony Humanitarian Hoffman Legacy Award. He was inducted into the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame by the Kansas City Kansas Community College Endowment Association and was appointed to the Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. He received a bachelors degree in history from Yale University.

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