The board of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences on Tuesday night voted its president to a fourth term heading into what could become an impassioned season of Oscar campaigning fuelled by the diversity agenda.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Boone Isaacs has placed herself front and centre of the gender and race equality cause that is likely to dominate the coming months.

Back in January she declared herself “heartbroken and frustrated” as the #OscarsSoWhite furore erupted when Academy members did not nominate a single person of colour in the Oscar acting categories, contrary to how some commentators believed they should have voted.

Days later Boone Isaacs ushered in the first of several governance changes designed to better reflect race and gender equality. 

The Academy board also elected on Tuesday night Jeffrey Kurland as first vice-president (chair, awards and events committee), John Bailey as vice-president (chair, preservation and history committee) and Kathleen Kennedy as vice-president (chair, museum committee).

Nancy Utley was voted in as vice-president (chair, education and outreach committee), Jim Gianopulos as treasurer (chair, finance committee) and David Rubin as secretary (chair, membership and administration committee).

Bailey, Gianopulos, Kennedy and Kurland were re-elected to their posts, while Rubin and Utley embark on their first stints as officers.