Jim Leach

Who is Jim Leach?

James Albert Smith "Jim" Leach is chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa.

Prior to his appointment as NEH chairman, Leach was the John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. He also served as the interim director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from September 17, 2007, to September 1, 2008, when Bill Purcell was appointed permanent director.

Previously, Leach served 30 years as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Iowa's 2nd congressional district. In Congress, Leach chaired the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services and was a senior member of the House Committee on International Relations, serving as Chair of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. He also founded and served as co-chair of the Congressional Humanities Caucus. He lost his 2006 re-election bid to Democrat Dave Loebsack.