president.risd.eduRISD President and Leadership | RISD

Skip to main content Toggle navigation Rhode Island School of Design Toggle Search About Back to main menu About Mission and Values Vision Leadership Presidential Search RISD Activism SEI Accountability History and Tradition Distinguished Honorees Visiting Campus Working Here Contact Policies and Disclosures Academics Back to main menu Academics Undergraduate Study Graduate Study Academic Leadership Liberal Arts Faculty Brown + RISD RISD Global Public Engagement Summer Programs Wintersession Calendar Admissions Back to main menu Admissions First-year Transfer Graduate Schedule a tour Giving Back to main menu Giving Priorities RISD Fund Ways of Giving Resources for Donors Donor Recognition Our Team Give Now RISD Alumni RISD Families News and Events Back to main menu News and Events Student stories Faculty stories Alumni stories SEI stories On-campus exhibitions Upcoming events XYZ Magazine For press Student Financial Services Back to main menu Student Financial Services Estimated Costs Undergraduate Aid Graduate Aid Student Accounts Resources and Forms Disclosures Contact Student Life Back to main menu Student Life Housing Dining Student Community Student Stories Safety Health and Wellness Our Neighborhood Annual Events Contact Alumni Continuing Education Event Calendar Families RISD Museum Social Equity and Inclusion Featured Sites Admissions FAQ Career Center Nature Lab RISD Made Leave this field blank About Leadership Main navigation About Expand page nav Mission and Values Vision Leadership Presidential Search RISD Activism SEI Accountability History and Tradition Distinguished Honorees Visiting Campus Working Here Contact Policies and Disclosures Top An accomplished educator and academic leader, President Rosanne Somerson is an advocate for the arts and the relevance of RISD’s unique type of studio-based education. As the 17th president she is committed to expanding inclusion, equity and access to enhance a genuinely rich learning environment full of diverse experiences, viewpoints and talents. Somerson has deep roots at RISD—extending back to when she was an undergraduate student here in the 1970s. In 1985 she returned to campus to teach furniture design, and in 1995 became the first leader of RISD’s new Furniture Design department, helping to establish its strong reputation in the field. After subsequently serving in several academic leadership roles on an interim basis, Somerson emerged as the top candidate in two separate international searches, which led to her appointment as provost in 2012 and then president in 2015. Moving RISD forward As provost Somerson led the college’s academic mission and also conceived of and co-edited The Art of Critical Making (Wiley, 2013), a book focused on RISD’s unique educational model. As president she developed with faculty and students RISD’s first Social Equity and Inclusion Action Plan and more recently, has led the development of a new strategic plan. Next: RISD 2020–2027 recognizes the collective role of artists, designers and educators as cultural innovators and agents of change and articulates a vision for making important contributions to environmental and social justice. In addition, Somerson is working to develop a culture of philanthropy at RISD aimed at increasing support for scholarships, financial aid and other top priorities. These efforts have led to the largest fundraising gains in RISD’s history. Creative practice and thought leadership Throughout her career Somerson has pursued her own furniture-making practice, creating work that has been shown in prominent museums such as the Louvre's Musée des Arts Décoratifs and is included in collections at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Huntsville [AL] Museum of Art and the RISD Museum. An interview with Somerson is included in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art Oral History Project and she has earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts along with the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Crafts Educator Award and a 2019 Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts. President Somerson in the media 01/05/2021 Living a Creative Life President Rosanne Somerson discusses the challenges of 2020 and the future of design education on Monocle on Design podcast. 12/15/2020 The Design of Business President Rosanne Somerson discusses the challenges and unexpected rewards of reconstructing design education on Design Observer podcast. 05/18/2020 Learning During a Pandemic President Rosanne Somerson joins fellow college presidents in discussing the complex challenges institutions of higher learning are facing in shifting rapidly to remote learning. more media coverage President’s Cabinet Candace Baer | Vice President of Human Resources Candace Baer joined RISD's leadership team in 2006. As head of RISD’s Human Resources Office, Baer oversees its mission to create a positive, inclusive work environment that attracts and supports a diverse community of talented professionals. An experienced human resources professional, she previously served as associate director of human resources at Smith College and vice president of organizational effectiveness at Merrill Lynch. Baer holds an MA in Organizational Communication from Emerson College. Sarah Ganz Blythe | Interim Director of the RISD Museum Sarah Ganz Blythe joined the RISD Museum in 2009 as director of education and then as deputy director for exhibitions, education and programs before assuming her current role as the museum's interim director. Investigating the complicated histories of museums, art pedagogy and interpretation in her own work, she holds a PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Previously Ganz Blythe served as director of interpretation and research at The Museum of Modern Art, New York and also held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kent Kleinman | Provost Provost Kent Kleinman leads the Academic Affairs division and works closely with the president to articulate RISD’s academic vision and direction. Before coming to RISD in 2019, he was the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University and has taught at several institutions in the US and internationally. Barbara LoMonaco | Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Barbara LoMonaco oversees the Center for Student Involvement, Residence Life, Counseling and Psychological Services, Intercultural Student Engagement, Disability Support Services, Health Services, Student Conduct and the Office of International Student Services. For four years before joining RISD's leadership team in 2019, she was the vice president for student affairs at Salve Regina University. Rick Mickool | Chief Information Officer Rick Mickool leads RISD’s central information technology services area, providing IT vision and leadership over the course of a 25-year career in this rapidly changing field. He has presented at numerous national and regional conferences, speaking about such topics as distributed learning, on-demand and cloud service delivery, and re-engineering in higher education. James O'Hara | Vice President of Enrollment Jamie O’Hara joined RISD’s top leadership team in September 2017 after serving as vice president for Enrollment Management at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ since 2004. At RISD he oversees enrollment strategies that enable the college to continue to attract and retain the best and most talented students from increasingly diverse backgrounds. O'Neil Outar | Vice President of Institutional Engagement O’Neil A.S. Outar joined RISD's leadership team in January 2018, bringing more than 20 years of fundraising and leadership experience from some of the world’s leading public and private research universities. Since beginning his career at Tufts University, he has held key advancement roles at MIT, the University of Alberta, Harvard and the University of Pi...