NEW YORK CITY: After a 34-year tenure, Juilliard School president Joseph W. Polisi has announced that he will step down in June 2018. Polisi will have been Juilliard’s sixth and longest-serving president. The school’s board of trustees has appointed a committee led by Board Chair Bruce Kovner to seek a successor.

“Joseph has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to artistic and educational integrity while fostering a spirit of community and humanity at the school,” said Kovner in a statement. “For more than three decades, he has embodied and enhanced Juilliard values, elevating educational standards to include an emphasis on entrepreneurship and social responsibility. Joseph’s contribution to the field of arts education is unparalleled.”

Presiding over one of the most dynamic and successful eras in the school’s history, Polisi has spearheaded a number of projects, including the construction of the school’s first dormitory, the Meredith Willson Residence Hall, and the expansion of the school’s curricular offerings. He was involved in revising the approach to teaching in the liberal arts department and updating the music history and theory curricula to create whole new programs, including jazz studies, historical performance, and a Master of Fine Arts in drama.

“It has been an immense honor to help lead this distinguished institution in partnership with a motivated and generous board, a brilliant faculty, a dedicated administrative staff, and extraordinary classes of highly talented student artists,” said Polisi in a statement. “Juilliard is a place that gives back to our global society by educating new generations of artists who enhance the enduring traditions embodied in the art forms of music, dance, and drama. I know that this important mission will flourish in the time ahead.”