John Edward Hasse is an author, curator and speaker. Since 1984, he has served as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He is founder and former executive director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, an acclaimed big band, and founder of the international Jazz Appreciation Month, celebrated each April in 50 states and 40 countries.

A talented educator, he has lectured and performed in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. As a keynote speaker, Hasse has given his presentation "Leadership Lessons from the Jazz Masters" to dozens of organizations, ranging from the American College of Health Executives, the Association of Government Accountants, and the American Academy of Nursing, to Harvard University's Kennedy School of Govenment, New York Life, and the World Bank.

Hasse is the author of a critically acclaimed biography, Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, for which Wynton Marsalis wrote the Foreword. The New York Times called it “the first truly substantial book about Ellington,” and Kirkus Reviews called it “brilliantly written.”

At the Smithsonian, Hasse led the Institution’s efforts to acquire the 200,000-page Duke Ellington archive, and conceived and curated the traveling exhibition Beyond Category: The Musical Genius of Duke Ellington, which toured to 12 museums and 45 libraries. He also led the Smithsonian’s initiative to acquire archives or artifacts of Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock, and others. For the Smithsonian, he has created partnerships with the United States Departments of Education, State, and Defense, the National Park Service, the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities, the Grammy Foundation, the American Library Association, PBS, NPR, the Voice of America, and other noted organizations.

Hasse has contributed articles to The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He is editor of Jazz: The First Century, with Forewords by Tony Bennett and Quincy Jones. Library Journal called the book “a major contribution to the understanding of jazz.” Hasse is editor of Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music and producer-author of the book and three-disc set The Classic Hoagy Carmichael, which was nominated for two Grammy awards. He has also received two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for excellence in writing on music.

Hasse was principal consultant to the U.S. Postal Service for its series of stamps "Legends of American Music" that began with Elvis Presley. He has been interviewed on CBS TV, NPR, PBS, the Voice of America, and Sirius XM Radio.

He earned a BA Cum Laude at Carleton College, and MA and PhD degrees from Indiana University. Walsh University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and he also holds a Certificate in Business Administration from The Wharton School.