Ira Perman served as President of the Alaska Humanities Forum from 2001-2006. He contributed more than 20 years of public service in the nation’s cultural arena. From 1981 to 2000, Perman was the Executive Director of the Anchorage Concert Association, Alaska’s most active concert presenting organization. Perman served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and has served on the national Board of Directors of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. In 1995 he was awarded the Jerry Willis Award, the highest award given to an arts administrator by the Western Alliance of Arts Administrators for his service to his community and to the arts presenting field. Perman is married to Virginia Rusch, an attorney with the State of Alaska. They have two daughters; Esther and Sara.