OFFICE DOORS {leadership}
COLLEEN JENNINGSROGGENSACK Executive Director of ASU Gammage and ASU Vice President for Cultural Affairs Jamie Killin | Web Editor
One of the key components of leadership is teamwork — something Colleen Jennings-Roggensack takes to heart. Whether it’s through her work as the executive director of ASU Gammage or as the vice president for cultural affairs for Arizona State University, or as Arizona’s sole Tony Awards voter, or her numerous board positions or even her role as mother to a Fulbright scholar, she extends her collaborative spirit to each of her undertakings. Not only has this approach helped her grow her career over the past 35 years from dancer to arts and culture powerhouse, it has helped her to champion change in the industry. One of her most notable endeavors began when she was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become
12 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | AUGUST 2018
a member of the National Council on the Arts during a time when the council had its largest budget, but also faced some of its most serious challenges. This was during the height of the culture wars, when the works of controversial artists like Robert Mapplethorpe were being introduced to the mainstream. “It was a really difficult time,” Roggensack said. “We would have meetings four times a year and there would be press and television and radio recording our every word. You had a lot of politicians who were using the arts as a way to fill the political coffers.” When she joined Arizona State University’s faculty in 1992, it was a similar turning point for the university. Her predecessor was being faced with felony charges, the staff was demoralized, and the vision of the arts program was in desperate need of development.
