Leah Hamilton

Leah Hamilton, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky, where she directs the Arts Emergency Management Certificates and leads the Arts Emergency and Disaster Research Initiative (AEDRI), a university-based research lab dedicated to developing research to enhance disaster resilience and emergency readiness in the arts sector. Her research centers on the intersections of arts administration, emergency management, and disaster sociology.

Through AEDRI, Dr. Hamilton serves as Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on several nationally and university-sponsored initiatives, including

• Kentucky Heritage Emergency Response Network (KHERN), funded by LYRASIS (Performing Arts Readiness Project), the Foundation of Advancement in Conservation, and the Sustainable Futures Design Lab with UK Trust Hub.
• Between Two Rivers: Safeguarding the Future of Greenup County’s Arts and Culture, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
• Arts and Cultural Heritage in Protected Areas: Management Strategies, Sustainable Tourism, and Crisis Impacts, with research partners at the University of Perugia and University of Macerata (Italy), funded by the UKInspire Fellowship program.

In 2024, Dr. Hamilton was the recipient of the Mulcahy Emerging Scholar Award, presented by the scientific committee of the International Social Theory, Politics, and the Arts Conference (STP&A), and was a Visiting Researcher studying crisis impacts on cultural tourism with the Department of Economics at the University of Perugia (Italy). Her scholarly contributions in arts emergency and disaster management include chapters in forthcoming volumes, the Routledge Companion of Arts Management (2nd ed.) and Innovative Pedagogy in Cultural Management Education. She has also recently authored research on disaster policy in cultural tourism with the University of National and World Economy and a disaster impact report for the Kentucky Arts Council and SouthArts (read Kentucky Arts in Disaster: An Impact Report or listen to Dr. Hamilton’s interview with Tom Martin for WEKU) Her recent work has led to the development of the Theory of Performative Preparedness (TPP), a new approach to disaster management for nonprofit arts organizations that reframes disaster preparedness not as static planning, but as an ongoing, community-embedded practice.

Before her full-time faculty appointment in 2023, she served in leadership roles as the Arts Administration Program Director and Lecturer at Drury University (Mo.) and Executive Director of the Springfield Regional Arts Council (Mo.).

In addition to her academic and research roles, Dr. Hamilton serves as a board member for the Kentucky Museum and Heritage Alliance (KMHA), a network administrator for the KHERN(Kentucky Heritage Emergency Response Network), a Crisis Analysis and Mitigation (CAM) coach with the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER), and as an advisor for the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension’s Community Arts Program.

Dr. Hamilton earned her Ph.D. in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky, her M.S. in Arts Administration from Drexel University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and her B.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Kansas.