The Cleveland Institute of Music has assembled an outstanding ensemble to lead the institution, including a volunteer board of trustees with a wealth of resources and expertise, led by A. Malachi Mixon III. Over the 80 years it has served the community, CIM has always been supported by a loyal group of local and national leaders. President David Cerone leads the administrative team in collaboration with the Board.

Joel Smirnoff holds the Mary Elizabeth Callahan President's Chair at CIM. He is a native of New York City and former chair of the violin department at The Juilliard School. He has been a member of the Juilliard String Quartet since 1986, and the ensemble's leader since 1997.

The Quartet, founded in 1947, has become a living American legend and won four GRAMMY Awards. Formerly the group's second violinist, Mr. Smirnoff attended the University of Chicago and The Juilliard School and was a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for six years. Second Prize-winner in the International American Music Competition in 1983, he made his New York recital debut in 1985 at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall as part of the Emerging Artists series and at Town Hall as part of the Midtown Masters series.

In 1997, he was featured violin soloist at Tanglewood in a concert dedicated to the memory of violinist Louis Krasner, performing the Berg Violin Concerto under the direction of Bernard Haitink. Mr. Smirnoff has participated in the world premiere of numerous contemporary works, many of which were composed for him. Mr. Smirnoff is a Sony recording artist and has solo recordings on GM, CRI and Northeastern Records.

Mr. Smirnoff has served as Chair of the Violin Department at The Juilliard School since 1993 and served as Head of String Studies at the Tanglewood Music Center during the late 1990s. Mr. Smirnoff has been on the faculty of Tanglewood since 1983. He has served on the juries of the Naumburg and Indianapolis Violin Competitions. He also pursues an active career as a conductor, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the summer of 2000, Mr. Smirnoff made his official American conducting debut with the San Francisco Symphony, conducting an all-Tchaikovsky program. He has also been a frequent guest with the New World Symphony and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. In May 2004, he received rave reviews for his debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, replacing Peter Oundjian, who had fallen ill.

In Europe, Mr. Smirnoff has conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and a European tour with the Basel Sinfonietta and Charles Rosen as soloist in the Elliott Carter Piano Concerto. Mr. Smirnoff has led both the Juilliard Symphony and the Juilliard Orchestra in concert. He has also appeared in concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Phoenix Symphony, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Western New York Chamber Orchestra and the Texas Music Festival Orchestra.

Mr. Smirnoff also plays jazz, performing frequently as improvising soloist with Tony Bennett. His solos were featured on the GRAMMY Award-winning CD Tony Bennett Sings Ellington Hot and Cool. He has also been guest soloist with Gunther Schuller and the American Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Billy Taylor Trio. Mr. Smirnoff was born into an eminent New York musical family. His mother sang with the Jack Teagarden Band under the stage name of Judy Marshall and his father, Zelly Smirnoff, played in the NBC Symphony under Toscanini and was second violinist of the Stuyvesant String Quartet. Mr. Smirnoff has been president of CIM since 2008.

A. Malachi (Mal) Mixon, III is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Invacare Corporation (IVC:NYSE), the leading worldwide manufacturer and distributor of medical products for the home health care market. 2007 sales were $1.6 billion. Mal led a leveraged buy-out of Invacare in 1979, when sales were $19 million.

Mal serves on the boards of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE) and Primus Venture Partners, a leading midwest venture capital firm. He also is a founding investor in MCM Capital Partners, LP, a Cleveland leveraged buyout company. Additionally, Mal has been an active investor in several successful Cleveland-area ventures which became public companies including Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company (NYSE) and STERIS Corporation (NYSE).

In May 2008, Mal was presented with John Carroll University's Edward M. Muldoon Award for Civic Entrepreneurship and Easter Seals' Spirit of Independence Award. During 2007, Mal received the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the school's highest honor, and the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ohio Association of Medical Equipment Services (OAMES) in recognition of his industry leadership. The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) presented Mal with the 2006 Humanitarian Award in September recognizing his industry leadership. Also during 2006, Mal was honored by the NAACP Cleveland Branch as the recipient of the 2006 Freedom Fund Award and the Lorain County Urban League presented Mal with the Whitney M. Young Humaritian Award. The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) presented Mal with its 2005 Humanitarian Award and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) honored Mal with the 2005 Living and Giving Award. Mal and his wife, Barbara, were honored in 2003 by the Achievement Centers for Children for their civic and philanthropic contributions to Northeast Ohio. In 2002, Mal received the Business Statesman Award from the Harvard Busines School Club of Northeastern Ohio. He received the American Association for Homecare Leadership Award in 2001 in recognition of his dedicated leadership in promoting sound public policy affecting homecare providers and manufacturers. In addition, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Greater Cleveland Council, Boy Scouts of America. He was honored as the Master Innovator at the 2000 Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield / Small Business News Business Conference. In 1999 and 1992, Mal was awarded the International Business Executive of the Year Award by The Cleveland World Trade Association. He was honored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society with the Hope Award for distinguished civic and community service and the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization presented him with the America's Free Enterprise Legend Award in 1997. Mal was inducted in 1996 as a charter member into the Cleveland Business Hall of Fame. The Paralyzed Veterans of America honored him with the 1996 Corporate Patriot Award in recognition of his significant commitment to the PVA and to all those who have sacrificed in defense of our country. The National Society of Fund Raising Executives Greater Cleveland Chapter honored Mal in 1995 as Outstanding Philanthropist. In 1992, he was awarded the Inc. Magazine Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Northeast Ohio. The Harvard Business School Club of Cleveland honored Mal with the Dively Entrepreneurship Award in 1984.

A graduate of Leadership Cleveland (1986), Mal's current civic activities include serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM). In 2007, CIM opened Mixon Hall, a state-of-the-art performance hall. He also serves on the Visiting Committee of Harvard Business School and the boards of BioEnterprise and MWV Pinnacle Capital Management, a fund investing in minority ventures. In 1992, Mal established a chair in entrepreneurial studies at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1997, he established a Mixon Scholarship in each new freshman class at Harvard College for students from Oklahoma and Northeast Ohio.

Originally from Oklahoma, Mal is a graduate of Harvard College (BA) and Harvard Business School (MBA). Between degrees, Mal served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a year in Vietnam, attaining the rank of Captain. Combat decorations include the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V".

Mal and his wife, Barbara, have two children, Elizabeth and Ki, six grandchildren, and live in Hunting Valley, Ohio. He enjoys hunting, golfing and playing the piano.

2007-2008 CIM Board of Trustees

President
David Cerone

Officers of the Board of Trustees

Chairman
A. Malachi Mixon, III

Vice Chairmen
Brent M. Buckley
Charles S. Marston
Patrick S. Mullin/Treasurer
Joseph H. Thomas

Secretary
Barbara Bolton Gratry

Trustees

Honorary Trustees

International Council

Ex-Officio

Alumni Association
David W. Gilson

Friends of CIM
Jean Koznarek

Women's Committee
Patricia M. Gaskins