Ruth Rentschler

Professor Ruth Rentschler holds the rank of Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership at the University of South Australia (UniSA Business School). She leads the School of Management and has served as Associate Dean for Research and Education. Her expertise spans arts governance, nonprofit management, and cultural policy. With over 25 years of experience, she focuses on diversity, social inclusion, and entrepreneurial practices in the creative industries. Rentschler chairs the Australian Dance Theatre and collaborates with institutions like the Department of Premier & Cabinet (SA), Adelaide Festival Centre, and international partners such as 29Dong (South Korea). She designs postgraduate programs in arts management and supervises doctoral research. Awards include an OAM (2012) and the UniSA Cutting Red Tape Award (2017). Her research addresses governance challenges, disability arts policy, and philanthropy in cultural organizations.

• Education: PhD (Monash University), First Class Honors (University of Melbourne), DAAD Scholar (Germany).
• Boards: Chair, Australian Dance Theatre; Member, AIMAC Scientific Committee; Board Member, Duldig Museum & Sculpture Garden.
• Publications: Over 15 books and chapters, including seminal works on arts governance and Indian movie entrepreneurship.

Her teaching emphasizes student-centered learning and qualitative research methodologies. She initiated doctoral programs for international arts conferences and redesigned UniSA's arts management curriculum, boosting student numbers. Current research explores collaborative governance in disability arts and professionalization challenges for artists with disabilities.