Daniel Atkinson is Executive Director of San Diego Jazz Ventures, the producer of the San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival, a major cross-border music event. He also founded the Athenaeum Jazz series in San Diego and has been its artistic director for the past four decades. DownBeat has recognized the Athenaeum as one of the world’s great jazz rooms. From 2001-2020, he was Director of Arts, Humanities, Languages, and Digital Arts at UC San Diego. He is also the past Executive Director of the Western Jazz Presenters Network, a nonprofit coalition of 40 jazz organizations spanning western North America. A recipient of the JJA Jazz Hero award, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK), and Member of the Recording Academy, Atkinson has produced albums including Peter Erskine’s 2008 Grammy-nominated “Standards.” He has been a panelist for international arts conferences and has served as a grant reviewer for national foundation and government grants.