Leon Botstein

Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946) is a Swiss-born American conductor and musicologist who was president of Bard College from 1975 to 2026. Botstein is credited with transforming Bard and significantly raising its international profile over the course of his long tenure as president. His retirement from the presidency was colored by revelations that he had maintained a friendly relationship with financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein between 2011 and 2018.