(Lexington KY) Former congressman and attorney general Ben Chandler has been named executive director of the Kentucky Humanities Council.

Chandler served in the US House from 2004 through 2012. He was attorney general from 1996-2004 and state auditor from 1992-1995. He's the grandson of former Kentucky Governor "Happy" Chandler.

Chandler has history and law degrees from the University of Kentucky. The Humanities Council is a non-profit corporation affiliated with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Council's services and programs have reached more than 100,000 Kentuckians every year since 1972. More than $14 million dollars has been spent by the Council.

Chandler succeeds Dr. Virginia Carter who has been Executive Director since 1989. Carter is retiring.