Bruce Milan Cole (August 2, 1938 – January 8, 2018) was a longtime professor of art history at Indiana University, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a member of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, and the eighth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Early life and education Bruce Cole was born on August 2, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio to a salesman. He attended Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) from which he graduated in 1962. Cole earned his master's and doctorate degrees from Oberlin College and Bryn Mawr College in art history, in 1964 and 1969 respectively. In 1966, while attending University of Florence, Cole participated in the evacuation during Arno river flooding. He received nine honorary doctorate degrees. Career Academic career Before going to the NEH in December 2001, Cole taught at the University of Rochester and Indiana University in Bloomington, where he was a Distinguished Professor of Art History and Professor of Comparative Literature. In 2008, he received the University's President's Medal for "excellence in service, achievement and teaching." In 2006, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels awarded Cole the Sagamore of the Wabash, which recognizes individuals who have brought distinction to the state of Indiana. For two years, Cole was the William E. Suida Fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. Cole held fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Kress Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He was a corresponding member of the Accademia Senese degli Intronati, the oldest learned society in Europe, and a founder and former co-president of the Association for Art History. He has written 15 books and numerous articles. NEH Chair Cole's connection with the National Endowment for the Humanities began when, like thousands of others, he received an NEH fellowship. He subsequently served as peer-reviewer for NEH applications, and later as a member of the National Council on the Humanities. From 2001 to 2009, Cole served as the eighth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Cole was nominated twice by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2001 and for a second term in 2005. Cole promoted some key initiatives at the Endowment, including We the People, a program designed to encourage the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture,