Daniel Glickman - Board of Directors

Dan Glickman became Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on September 1, 2004. The MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries around the world. While at the MPAA, Glickman has led efforts to safeguard intellectual property, reduce trade barriers and enhance the movie ratings system as a valued information tool for parents. From childhood Saturdays spent at the Crest Theater in Wichita, Kansas, to now serving as a vibrant American industry's advocate-in-chief, Glickman is a tireless champion of the enduring power of movies to bring joy into people's lives, promote democracy and freedom of expression around the world and grow our global information economy.

Glickman presides over the MPAA during an unprecedented period of transformation in the film and television industry. The rise of digital technology presents both disruptive challenges in the form of mass copyright theft and extraordinary new opportunities for filmmakers to share their work in innovative ways with people around the world. Glickman has helped provide new direction to the creative community's efforts to adapt to the digital era by raising awareness of the economic consequences of copyright theft to a unique industry that employs 1.5 million Americans. He also vigorously promotes new consumer choices that open up legitimate online avenues to movies and TV shows.  

Glickman also leads the industry's advocacy efforts during a time of profound globalization. He travels the world extensively to promote American movies and remove trade barriers. These efforts are increasingly central to the industry's modern success, given the fact that the majority of revenues for American films now come from outside the United States. Additionally, Glickman is an ardent champion of freedom of expression and a vocal proponent of the American movie ratings system, which delivers transparency to parents regarding film content while also shielding U.S. filmmakers from censorship.

Prior to joining the MPAA, Glickman was the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (August 2002-August 2004). A living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, the institute seeks to unite students, particularly undergraduates, with academicians, politicians, activists and policymakers on a nonpartisan basis and to stimulate and nurture their interest in public service and leadership. Glickman also served as Senior Advisor to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C.

From March 1995 until January 2001, Glickman served as the Secretary of Agriculture. Under his leadership, the department administered numerous farm and conservation programs; modernized food safety regulations; forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets; and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights, both in the treatment of its employees and in the execution of its programs. During his tenure, the department also focused extensively on improving our nation's diet and nutrition, and on fighting hunger. Glickman led the effort to ensure that an effective regulatory approval process that is based on sound science governs new agricultural technologies.

Before his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture, Glickman served for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Kansas' 4th Congressional District. During that time, he served as a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee that had jurisdiction over most federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee, where he was a leader on technology issues. In addition to his focus on agriculture, he was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy (where he wrote landmark legislation providing product liability protection for small airplane manufacturers), and also served as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Before his election to Congress in 1976, Glickman served as president of the Wichita School Board, was a partner in the law firm of Sargent, Klenda and Glickman and worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from The George Washington University. He is a member of the Kansas and District of Columbia Bars.

Glickman currently serves on the board of directors of the American Film Institute; Chicago Mercantile Exchange; Hain Celestial Group; Communities in Schools; Food Research and Action Center, a domestic anti-hunger organization; National 4-H Council; William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan; and the Center for U.S. Global Engagement. He is also a member of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, chaired by Secretaries Madeleine Albright and Bill Cohen; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations co-chair on Global Agricultural Development, which has recently published a major report on global agriculture and world hunger; and vice chair of the Friends of the World Food Program. Glickman is the author of "New Tactics to Feed the Hungry," published in Foreign Affairs magazine (May/June 2009).