Jim Ralph is a co-founder of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, and served as President & Chairman of the company from 1991-95 and as Executive Director from 1995 to the present. He also serves as the company's chief program director and its marketing director.

Ralph was educated at the University of Oregon from which he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and an M. A. in Medieval Church History and History of the United States. An educator by training (he taught high school history and economics for a number of years), Ralph has played a central role in shaping The Shedd Institute's unique, multi-layered, and highly educational approach to performing arts programming. He the editor of the program books associated with The Shedd's various performance series, most notably each summer's Oregon Festival of American Music, and AmericanNotes newsletter.