Richard Kahn Succeeds Wise as Head of Motion Picture Academy

Longtime marketing executive Richard Kahn was elected as the 26th president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this week, succeeding Robert Wise.

Elected as vice presidents were writer Norman Corwin, public relations executive Charles M. Powell and New World Pictures head Robert Rehme. Cinematographer Joseph Westheimer was reelected as treasurer, while editor Donn Cambern was named secretary.

The academy also elected 13 governors to its 36-member board. Newly elected were director Norman Jewison; Robert A. Daly, chairman of Warner Bros.; producer Saul Zaentz; Cheryl Boone Isaacs, vice president for publicity at Paramount, and screenwriter Hal Kanter.

Robert F. Boyle, representing the art directors branch, and Arthur Hamilton, representing the music branch, were also elected to the board this week. Six incumbents including Jack Lemmon, cinematographer Ted Voigtlander, Cambern, William C. Littlejohn representing short films, and John A. Bonner representing the sound branch were reelected to three-year terms.

The Academy Foundation, the cultural and preservational arm of the academy that oversees its educational activities, this week elected Rehme as its president. He will succeed Fay Kanin. Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and Karl Malden were elected vice presidents of the foundation. Tex Rudloff was voted in as treasurer and Arthur Hamilton is the foundation’s new secretary.