David W. Breneman

In January 2015, Breneman replaced Ervin Duggan as the President and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida. The Four Arts campus along the Intracoastal Waterway is home to sculpture and botanical gardens, as well as a children's library and the King Library, which serves as the town library for Palm Beach. The organization presents notable speakers, concerts, films, educational programs, and art exhibitions to the public. He was responsible for an annual operating budget of more than $9 million and 38 full-time staff, including the Campus on the Lake, a center for continuing education, and the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden. He also oversaw an award-winning renovation of the historic King Library, including the re-creation of its spectacular murals.

Joseph B. Treaster (July 31, 2015) "Liberal Arts, A Lost Cause? An Interview with David W. Breneman". New York Times.

As a visiting fellow at The Brookings Institution Breneman conducted research for a book, Liberal Arts Colleges: Thriving, Surviving, or Endangered?, which received the 1999 Award for Outstanding Service from the Council of Independent Colleges.

He received an honorary Doctor of Education degree from Worcester State College in 1999 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Kalamazoo College in 2008.

Breneman received his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Colorado in 1963, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Danforth Fellow, and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. He taught at Amherst College before moving to Washington in 1972. He was a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution from 1975 to 1983, specializing in the economics of higher education and public policy towards education. From 1983 to 1989, he served as president of Kalamazoo College, a liberal arts college in Michigan. He was visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education from 1990 to 1995, where he taught graduate courses on the economics and financing of higher education, on liberal arts colleges, and on the college presidency. He went on to serve as Dean of the Curry School of Education at The University of Virginia from 1995 to 2007. Breneman later served as University Professor and Newton and Rita Meyers Professor in Economics of Education and Public Policy at The University of Virginia, where he also held several other leadership roles. While there, he helped secure $40 million in donations to construct a new education building and a $100 million endowment gift that established the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, where he served as the Director of the Public Policy Program.

David W. Breneman (born October 24, 1940) is an American educator, economist, and the former president and CEO of The Society of the Four Arts where he presided from January 1, 2015, to September 30, 2019. The Four Arts is a nonprofit cultural organization in Palm Beach, Florida. Established in 1936, The Society of the Four Arts is dedicated to presenting notable speakers, concerts, films, educational programs, and art exhibitions to the public. Dr. Breneman oversaw the administration of more than 500 cultural programs each year, including the prestigious Esther B. O’Keeffe Speaker Series, which features leading experts in media, politics and the arts.