Dr. Emil Kang serves as executive director for the arts at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a senior administrative post created in 2005 to help unify and elevate the performing arts at the university. In that year, Kang introduced, and currently directs, the university's first major multidisciplinary performing arts program, Carolina Performing Arts. In addition, Kang also serves as professor of practice in the department of music. Prior to coming to Chapel Hill, Kang served as president and executive director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Kang has also held positions with the Seattle Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, and served as an Orchestra Management Fellow with the League of American Orchestras. In May 2012, President Obama nominated Kang to the prestigious National Council on the Arts. Kang served as a Center management panelist in 2013.