Gary Dunning holds a B.A. from Princeton University and a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Over a period of six years, he moved from Assistant to the General Manager to Company Manager, to General Manger of the American Ballet Theatre. In 1986, he became Executive Director of the Houston Ballet, and returned to the American Ballet Theatre as
Executive Director in 1992. He joined the Big Apple Circus as Executive Director in 1996. He became President and Executive Director of the Celebrity Series of Boston, a multi-discipline presenting organization in 2011. Mr. Dunning has served on and chaired peer funding panels in dance and arts presenting for the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, the Texas Arts Council, the New York State Council for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He and his wife, Anne Patterson Dunning, live in Boston.