Stephen Rueff (he/him), is MICA's Creative Entrepreneurship Area Head. He earned his MBA in Sustainable Development and is passionate about helping others leverage the power of business to create socially just, environmentally sound, and financially sustainable creative careers.

Stephen has held a variety of roles within the creative and cultural sector. Early in his career, Stephen was twice awarded McKnight Fellowships and received choreographic commissions in the United States, Belgium and Germany. Moving into design and production, he worked at the Metropolitan Opera, The Public Theater, the Kitchen Theater and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. He toured nationally and internationally with McArthur Award recipient Meredith Monk, Blue Man Group, Urban Bush Women, and many more.

In 2014, Stephen co-founded SuperMonsterCity!, a traveling museum exhibit company celebrating characters and creators in pop culture. SMC exhibitions he has curated have engaged thousands of people in cultural institutions across the United States.

From 2015 - 2023, Stephen was Professor and Chair of the Arts Entrepreneurship department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He has been published in the ‘Journal of Arts Entrepreneurship Education’, ‘Law, Policy and the Arts’, and was a board member of the Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Education.

Stephen earned his MBA from Pinchot University, a BA from Empire State College, NYC. He has completed many certificates and trainings including: the NODE Center’s International Curatorial Program; Price-Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators; the year-long Decentering Whiteness in Curriculum led by the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design; a certified Climate Reality Leadership Corps presenter (Al Gore's org.); Intercultural Leadership Institute; and many more.