Tom Healy is a writer and activist in the arts, education and public diplomacy. He is the author of three books of poems and many essays on art, politics and international affairs. He is currently a trustee of PEN America, The National Museum of African American History and Culture and The Bass Museum. He serves as chair of the O, Miami Poetry Festival and is a juror for the Gotham Book Prize. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Under President Barack Obama, Tom served as chairman of the Fulbright scholars program, where he led major efforts to transform and expand the U.S. Government's largest public diplomacy program to promote peace and understanding through the exchange of scholars in more than 165 countries. Under President Bill Clinton, Tom served on the first White House Council on HIV/AIDS. In the arts, Tom served as the president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and was awarded the 2005 New York City Arts Award by Mayor Michael Bloomberg for leading rebuilding efforts for the downtown arts community after 9/11. He has also been a consulting curator to the Brooklyn Museum, The Bass and the Miami International Book Fair. He has taught literature and creative writing at New York University and the New School and has lectured at universities around the world. Earlier in his career, Tom and two friends pioneered New York’s Chelsea arts district, where they opened the first three art galleries in 1994. Tom showed many young artists who have risen to prominence. Before opening a gallery, Tom owned an arts consulting company, working with museums, film festivals, and other prominent cultural institutions in the U.S., Europe and the Mideast. For almost a decade, Tom chaired the board of public arts presenter Creative Time. He has also served on the boards of University of the People, Poets House, The Brooklyn Museum, Vera List Center for Art and Politics, the Grey Art Gallery and the New Festival. Tom grew up on small dairy farm. He studied philosophy at Harvard as an undergraduate and received his M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia. His life partner, Fred Hochberg, is former chairman of The Export-Import Bank of the United States. They live in Miami and Connecticut.