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Mr. Ralph J. Schulz serves as President and Chief Executive Officer at Nashville Area Chamber Of Commerce since November 1, 2006. Mr. Schulz served as President and Chief Executive of Nashville-based Adventure Science Center since 1999. Mr. Schulz has 30-plus years of professional leadership experience, most of which was spent in executive-level positions with nonprofit groups including the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and Junior Achievement Inc. 

Noteworthy achievements at Adventure Science Center during Schulz’s tenure include: successful organizational re-branding effort (formerly known as Cumberland Science Museum); annual visitation increased from 167,000 to 334,000; operating revenue increased 74 percent to $3.3 million; the nonprofit raised more than $24.8 million in capital contributions from private/public sources; local/state government funding was restored; and the center opened $10.7 million in new and/or renovated exhibits.

Prior to heading the Adventure Science Center, Mr. Schulz served as Corporate Vice President of Marketing and Development at NFIB. He also was Executive Vice President of NFIB’s education foundation. The bulk of Schulz’s career (22 years) was spent with Junior Achievement, where he served as President and CEO of chapters in New York City, Dallas and Jackson, Miss., after beginning his career with the youth-based nonprofit in Nashville in 1974. From 1990 to 1996, he was National Executive Vice President for Junior Achievement, based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In 2001, Mr. Schulz received the Marvin Runyon Leadership Award for nonprofit turnaround. He is a founding board member of Alliance for Public Education and served on the Metro School Funding Task Force in 2005. He chaired Mayor Purcell’s Working Group on Tourism in 2003, is the immediate past board chairman of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau and vice chairman of the Music City Center Coalition. He serves as a Director of Nashville Area Chamber Of Commerce. Mr. Schulz also served on the Nashville Symphony Hall Advisory Committee, and is alumni chair for Leadership Nashville and program chair for Rotary Club of Nashville.