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Rhode Island School of Design Appoints Rosanne Somerson as Provost
05/30/2012
PROVIDENCE,
RI – Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is pleased to announce
the appointment of Rosanne Somerson as provost. Somerson, who currently serves
as RISD’s interim provost, will officially assume the position on July 1, 2012.
Somerson’s
RISD roots run deep. As a student in the Industrial Design department (BFA ’76),
she personally experienced the depth and rigor of RISD’s departmental
curriculum, which she now champions so eloquently. In 1995 she played a significant role in founding the Furniture Design Department, which has
produced stellar students and alumni whose flexible thinking and passionate
making have informed their field and beyond.
“Rosanne’s
career as a respected teacher and sought-after practitioner exemplifies our
vision for RISD’s role in art and design education. After working with Rosanne
this past year as she served as interim provost, and observing her leadership
of the academic mission with the deans, I am confident that Rosanne will
perform this role with generosity, courage and integrity,” said RISD President
John Maeda. “She will bring a passion and energy that embodies the finest
values we try to instill in our students and will continue to bring out the
best in our community.”
“With our
new strategic plan in place, RISD is more poised than ever to develop and lead
academic excellence here and in the world. We will continue to steward the
disciplines that we teach with such rigor at RISD, and we will champion new
developments in art and design education,” said Somerson. “What we teach at
RISD is more critical to culture than ever. I am honored and enthused by the
support of so many, and look forward to helping RISD to continue to contribute
both to the development of our students, and to the future that they will help
to shape.”
“A Provost Search
Committee that included faculty, students, and other college leaders was
convened in December 2011. Over a six-month period, the Committee reviewed and
interviewed impressively qualified candidates and, in May, brought three
finalists for interviews and meetings with RISD constituencies and the campus
community,” said Patricia Phillips, interim associate provost and chair of the
Provost Search Committee. “Based on a range of criteria that spanned academic
vision, critical and creative rigor, commitment to inclusive leadership, and a
vivid understanding of RISD's distinctive character, mission, and potential,
the Committee's overwhelming support went to interim Provost Rosanne Somerson,
and we sent the decision to offer her the position to President Maeda. We are
delighted with the successful completion of this international search and
extend our congratulations to Rosanne.”
In her
many roles at RISD over the years – as a professor, department head, interim associate
provost and interim provost – Somerson’s considerable achievements include
building institutional partnerships, nurturing collaborations between RISD and
Brown, including the RISD-Brown Dual Degree program, providing greater
opportunities for faculty development, and bringing a focus to academic
facilities and technology. Somerson has fostered this progress through
collaboration, building a solid academic leadership, and thoughtful listening.
In addition, her experience as an international lecturer, juror, exhibitor and
evaluator allow her to apply both local and global perspectives to her work.
Somerson’s
robust creative practice keeps her firmly rooted in the sphere of making. Her
work has been exhibited widely throughout the world and is represented in many
prestigious museum collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the
Renwick Collection of the National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC, and
our own RISD Museum of Art. She has served on the boards of the Haystack
Mountain School, ME, the Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, is a named Fellow
of the American Craft Council, and is the subject of an interview that forms
part of the Smithsonian Institute Archives of American Art Oral History
Program. Later this year she will receive the Award of Distinction from the
Furniture Society for lifetime achievement in the field of studio furniture.
About Rhode Island
School of Design
Rhode Island School of
Design (RISD) has earned an international reputation as the leading college
of art and design in the United States. Approximately 2,400 students from
around the world study at RISD, pursuing full-time bachelor’s or master’s
degree programs in a choice of 19 studio majors. RISD
is known for its phenomenal faculty of artists and designers, the breadth of
its specialized facilities and its hands-on, studio-based approach to learning
– one in which critical thinking informs making works by hand. Required courses
in the liberal arts provide an essential complement to studio work, enabling
graduates to become critical and informed individuals eager to engage with the
world. Through the accomplishments of its 26,000 alumni, the college champions
the vital role artists and designers play in satisfying the global demand for
innovation. Founded in 1877, RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) and the RISD Museum of Art help make Providence, RI among
the most culturally active and creative cities in the region. For more
information, visit www.risd.edu or
our.risd.edu
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