MOUNTAINVILLE, NY.- The Board of Trustees of Storm King Art Center today announced the election of distinguished journalist and philanthropist James H. Ottaway, Jr., as Chair. A trustee since 1986 and Vice Chair since 1995, Mr. Ottaway succeeds H. Peter Stern, who was appointed Honorary Chair. Since co-founding Storm King with the late Ralph E. Ogden, in 1960, Mr. Stern served as President until 2008 and as Chair until this year. His son, John P. Stern, was appointed as a full-time President in 2009.

Storm King additionally announced the appointment of Roberta Denning as the newest member of its Board.

John Stern stated, “Jim Ottaway has been a vital member of the Storm King family for over twenty-five years, and the Board and staff embrace the opportunity to work with him in this expanded role. He brings to his position a wealth of knowledge not only about the Art Center, but also about the larger arts and environmental communities; deep professional experience; and a passion for the arts, culture, environment, and education. Guided by Jim’s rigorous leadership, and with Roberta’s fresh insights, we look forward to continuing to enrich Storm King’s program and unique visitor experience of art in nature.”

Mr. Ottaway added, “It is a humbling honor to succeed Peter Stern as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Storm King Art Center, after his fifty years of inspired leadership as co-founder and prime-mover. And it is a great personal pleasure to help guide the future of this sacred space for the best outdoor sculpture in America.”

James Ottaway began his journalism career in 1960 at Ottaway Newspapers, first as a reporter and then as associate editor for the News-Times of Danbury, CT. Over the next forty-three years, and following the company’s 1970 merger with Dow Jones & Co., Inc., he held a range of positions at various publications at Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. These included, among others, the Times Herald-Record, Middletown, NY; the Pocono Record, Stroudsburg, PA; and the Standard-Times, in New Bedford, MA. In 1970, he was named President and Director of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., and served as Chairman of the Board from 1979 until 2003. A Senior Vice President of Dow Jones since 1988, he retired from that position in 2003, and from its Board of Directors in 2006.

Mr. Ottaway has played an active role on numerous boards. At present these include Bard College, where he is a Life Trustee and Chairman of the Advisory Board of The Center for Civic Engagement; Wallkill Valley Land Trust, Inc., where he serves as Treasurer; and Words Without Borders.org, where he is Chairman Emeritus.

Former board affiliations include Doctors Without Borders; Human Rights Watch USA’s New York City Council; the International Center for Transitional Justice; Human Rights in China; the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH; the Urban Coalition, New Bedford, MA; the Archaeological Institute of America; and the World Wildlife Fund.

Other former affiliations include The World Press Freedom Committee, the United Press International Newspaper Advisory Board, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the Associated Press Board of Directors. He served as a Pulitzer Prize juror on four separate occasions.

Mr. Ottaway graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1955 and received his B.A. from Yale University in 1960 (where he was Chairman/editor of the Yale Daily News from 1959-60). He holds honorary doctoral degrees from Suffolk University, Boston, MA; and Southeastern Massachusetts University. He and his wife, Mary Ottaway, live in New Paltz, NY.

Roberta Denning is Chairman of Stanford University’s Arts Advisory Council and of its Advisory Council for the School of Humanities and Sciences. Formerly, she was President of the Board of Greenwich Library, in Greenwich, CT; President of the Board of The Greenwich Country Day School; and Chairman of the Board of The Greenwich Historical Society. She has also served as a Trustee of the Performing Arts Center Foundation, in Purchase, NY; a member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia College; a Trustee of the United Way of Greenwich; a member of the Advisory Council of the American Museum of Natural History; and a member of the Exhibitions Committee of the International Center of Photography, NY. She previously held positions at several media companies, including Time Inc., Home Box Office, and Newsweek

Ms. Denning graduated from Stanford University with an A.B. in English with Honors in Humanities in 1975 and earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1978. She and her husband, Steven Denning, reside in Greenwich, CT.