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Clifford Chanin, Director of Education and Public Programs at the National September 11 Memorial and Musem, has gained prominence in recent years for his role in providing education and creating programs at the 9/11 Memorial. Previously, he was Associate Director of Arts and Humanities at the Rockefeller Foundation, where his work included programs on museums, university development, book publishing, contemporary issues in the humanities and international philanthropy. During his time at the Rockefeller Foundation, Cliff created a programming initiative in the Muslim world, focusing on issues of pluralism and civil society. In addition, he encountered numerous artworks from around the world, addressing the absence and losses experienced by societies as a result of past tragedies, including war, genocide, ethnic conflict, and population displacement. The discovery of common themes linking these works of art raised the possibility of creating a new global dialogue based on the common language of society's shared inheritance of loss, or "legacy of absence". He has interviewed a multitude of prominent figures on this topic, particularly in relation to 9/11, including Tony Blair, George W. Bush, as well as leading professors from schools such as Harvard and Princeton. A native New Yorker, Chanin received a B.A. from Wesleyan University, and master's degrees in journalism and international affairs from Columbia University.