08/13/2026
The O’Neill School remembers with gratitude Professor Emeritus Jim Suelflow, whose vision and leadership helped shape arts administration education at Indiana University.
Out of a passion for bridging the worlds of business and the arts, Jim created the Master of Arts in Arts Administration program to provide multidisciplinary management education to those dedicated to arts and culture. The program enrolled its very first student in 1971 and celebrated its first graduate in 1972. Jim served as its inaugural director until he retired from the Kelley School of Business in 1996. Our O'Neill Arts Administration program wouldn't be here today without his foresight, dedication, and leadership.
More than five decades later, generations of MAAA alumni have benefited from the program he envisioned, and his commitment to its students lives on through the James E. Suelflow Fellowship, which he generously established to support future arts administrators.
We are deeply grateful for Jim’s foresight, dedication, and lasting contributions to the MAAA program and the broader arts community. We extend our condolences to his family, friends, former students, and all those whose lives he touched.
