The Recording Academy announced its newly elected national officers of the board of trustees on Thursday (June 6), voted upon at the organization’s annual spring Board of Trustees meeting in May.
Record producer Harvey Mason Jr. was voted to chair the board of trustees with managing partner of Placement Music Tammy Hurt as his vice chair. Veteran music executive Terry Hemmings was re-elected secretary/treasurer and recording artist and founder/CEO of Swan Songs Christine Albert was voted as chair emeritus. All officer appointments were effective on June 1, 2019.
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Mason is the second African American to be selected chairman of the board of trustees. (Jimmy Jam was the first, serving from 2007–2009.) Mason is a five-time Grammy nominee. He was nominated for co-writing the Toni Braxton hit “He Wasn’t Man Enough,” co-producing Justin Timberlake’s Justified and for his work on three soundtracks — Dreamgirls, Pitch Perfect 2 and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
John Poppo, who served as Chairman the past four years, did not step into the chair emeritus role, as is customary. Instead, that slot is filled by Albert, who preceded Poppo as chairman (serving from 2013–2015).
Hurt succeeds Ruby Marchand as vice chairman, who served in the role for the past four years. This marks the first time that women have served back-to-back in that post. Hurt is the fourth female to serve as vice chairman: Leslie Ann Jones was the first, serving from 1997-99, followed by Albert and Marchand.
“Following the outcome of our annual spring board of trustees meeting, it’s clear the Recording Academy’s governance continues to demonstrate its commitment to keeping the Academy a relevant and responsive organization,” said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy in a statement. “We are thrilled with the diversity and depth of music industry experience embodied by our new slate of National Officers. These esteemed and talented individuals will continue to carry out the mission of this organization which works on behalf of all music creators and professionals year-round.”
See the full list of the Recording Academy’s board of trustees here.