Miami University’s College of Creative Arts has received a philanthropic commitment from Jason T. Busch and Duane G. Middendorf to support leadership at the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum on the Oxford campus. The university described the gift as transformational.

Busch, a 1996 Miami University graduate, serves as the Becky and Bob Alexander Director and CEO of the American Folk Art Museum in New York. He has held curatorial and leadership positions at the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum and Sotheby’s. He earned a Master of Arts from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture.

Busch credited Miami faculty and staff with shaping his museum career, citing mentors who connected him with internships at the Cincinnati History Museum and a conservation assistantship at the Walter Havighurst Special Collections. He also serves as President of the College of Creative Arts Alumni Advisory Board.

Source: https://miamioh.edu/cca/news-events/2026/06/busch-middendorf-rccam-gift.html