Chad is the Deputy Director at MSAC, where he supervises the team’s communications, Arts in Education, and Maryland Traditions staff; directs the agency’s professional development and data reporting activities; and serves as liaison to the National Endowment for the Arts. He joined the MSAC team in 2016 and previously served as Senior Program Director and State Folklorist, during which time he led the creation of the Grants for Artists and Folklife Network programs.
Chad is an experienced writer of journalistic and academic work. He began his career reporting for newspapers in northeast Ohio and County Cork, Ireland. Later, he published several scholarly articles and chapters based on field research in Ireland, where he investigated professional storytelling as a form of cultural entrepreneurship. He has a Ph.D. in folklore studies from Indiana University.