The University Magazine Spring 2015 GREATNESS THROUGH DIFFERENCE 2015–2025 STRATEGIC PLAN b | WINTER 2011-12 The University Magazine Spring 2015 Mission Through a unique blend of curricular, experiential, and research programs delivered within a student-centric culture, Rochester Institute of Technology prepares its students for successful careers in a global society. Vision RIT will be a great world university whose academic portfolio, research agenda, and educational model align with the shifting needs of a complex planet. Strategic Plan 3 Greatness Through Diff erence: Preface 4 A University of Firsts: The Past 7 A University of Innovation: The Present 8 A Responsive University: The Context 9 The Power of Diversity: The Future 10 Career Education and Student Success 14 The Student-Centered Research University 18 Leveraging Diff erence 22 Aff ordability, Value, and Return on Investment 26 Organizational Agility 28 Already Great and Making a Diff erence University Magazine 30 On Campus 32 Alumni Updates 38 Class Notes 47 In Memoriam 48 From the Archives 2 | SPRING 2015 GREATNESS THROUGH DIFFERENCE: PREFACE orn from the unlikely union of When the economic, technological, an infl uential cultural associa- and demographic transformations of the tion (the Rochester Athenae- late 20th century threatened to disrupt um) and a technical training the largely conservative higher education Bschool (the Mechanics Institute), Rochester industry, RIT found itself perfectly Institute of Technology has always been a positioned to meet these cha llenges and diff erent kind of educational institution. to address the attendant demands of a When most colleges were teaching public increasingly disenchanted with ancient languages, theology, and the law the traditional model of higher education. to the sons of prosperous families, the As our competitors struggle to recruit Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics and support a very diff erent student Institute was preparing young men and demographic, to contain unsupportable women for local employment through a tuition hikes, and to provide an education combination of technical training and leading to gainful employment, RIT can courses in the sciences and fi ne arts. turn its attention to anticipating and Embedded within the unusual circum- addressing the next set of opportunities. stances of RIT’s origins was a set of Th e strategic plan before you, Greatness principles that would become the shap- Th rough Diff erence, provides the design ing credo of the young institution: the by which we will hone the proven tools innovative potential of unlikely partner- of diff erence, innovation, and student- ships—between and among institutions, centeredness and apply them to the next individuals, and disciplines; the impor- generation of possibilities. tance of educating students to do as Th e next 10 years will be treacherous well as to know; and the propulsive ones for higher education, and not all power of diff erence. institutions will survive. But by building Th is practicality, attention to student upon its talent for distinctiveness and in- needs, and taste for doing things diff er- novation, its record of successful change ently would fuel the many early instances management, and its visionary approach of multi-disciplinary integration, coop- to education, RIT will emerge from the eration, and risk-taking of the institution’s coming decade as an incontestably great fi rst 100 years. And they would account university, fully prepared to supply the for RIT’s 20th-century reputation as an new world of 2025 with the graduates, innovative university whose programs, new discoveries, and innovative partnerships, and practices were educational model that it will require. increasingly the fi rst of their kind in higher education. SPRINGSPRSPSPRINGININGNG 201520201515 ||3 3 A UNIVERSITY OF FIRSTS: THE PAST At its founding in 1829, RIT launched a trajectory that today remains unique among the more than 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities occupying the higher education landscape. Consider the following early instances of “diff erence”: 1940 1950 1960 1970 910 1920 1930 1890 1900 1 60 1870 1880 840 1850 18 1820 1830 1 1829 1885 1912 1950 hard of hearing. At least The provision of lifelong The Rochester Athenaeum With the initiation of its The Graphic Arts Research two dozen universities vied learning has been a strand and Mechanics Institute cooperative education Center is established for the privilege of hosting of the RIT DNA from the (the institution that would program, in which students to apply scientifi c and NTID, but RIT’s strong inception of the Rochester become RIT) commits secured paid employment engineering principles to post-secondary technical Athenaeum, which off ered itself to educating young in their major fi eld, RIT the printing and publishing curricula and cooperative evening lectures to the men and women in the becomes a pioneer in industry. RIT becomes a education programs gave it people of Rochester and technologies necessary experiential education, center of research on all the edge. was for a time the young for successful careers— or what today would be aspects of the graphic arts. city’s dominant cultural a mission that endures to called competency-based Edwina Hogadone 1971 force. this day. Early in its history, education. 1950 1960 RIT delivers its fi rst RIT becomes one of the fi rst School for American Crafts- RIT appoints Edwina distance-learning course schools to integrate applied men, founded by Aileen Hogadone as the fi rst via closed-circuit television. technical study with curri- Vanderbilt Webb and now female dean of a U.S. cula in the humanities, the called School for American business college. 1982 arts, and design. RIT may Crafts, moves to RIT. The RIT enrolls students in have been the fi rst school school off ers undergradu- 1968 the fi rst undergraduate to introduce “design think- ate and graduate programs National Technical Institute program in microelectronic ing” into its curriculum. in ceramics, glass, metals for the Deaf opens at RIT, engineering in the U.S. and jewelry design, and revolutionizing technical furniture design. education for the deaf and 4 | SPRINGSPSPRINR NGG2 20152015011 1980 1 0 990 201 2000 1983 1990 1991 1993 1996 1998 2008 RIT becomes the fi rst RIT’s Ph.D. program RIT delivers its fi rst RIT off ers the fi rst RIT becomes the RIT’s College of RIT off ers a university in the nation in imaging science fully online pro- nationally recognized fi rst university in the Engineering becomes doctoral program in to off er a Bachelor opens—the fi rst gram—years before Bachelor of Science United States to off er Kate Gleason College sustainability, the fi rst of Science degree in doctoral program at the rest of higher degree in information a bachelor’s degree in of Engineering— program in the world biotechnology. RIT and the fi rst such education enters the technology. software engineering. the fi rst engineering to focus on sustainable program in the United online arena. school in the country production systems. States. named for a woman. SPRINGSPSPRSPRRINGININGNG 201520201515 ||5 5 6 | SPRING 2015 A UNIVERSITY OF INNOVATION: THE PRESENT iven the distinctiveness of • With full residential campuses in its origins, it should come Dubrovnik and Zagreb, Croatia, in as no surprise that in this Kosovo, and in Dubai, our global presence is far-reaching and unique. second decade of the 21st Gcentury, RIT has kept pace with the • RIT’s growing research portfolio relentless acceleration of scientifi c includes unique interdisciplinary and technological discovery and the centers such as the Center for Applied resulting economic, social, and cultural Psychophysiology and Self-Regulation (a program integrating education, transformations. One hundred and research, and clinical care around the eighty-six years aft er its founding, autism spectrum); the National Center RIT has matured into one of the world’s of Academic Excellence in Information most innovative, agile, and foresighted Assurance/Cyber Defense Education; universities. Consider the following: and the Image Permanence Institute (a world leader in artifact preservation). • As a member of the Association of • Th e new Wegmans School of Health Independent Technological Universi- and Nutrition is based upon the ties (AITU), RIT is among the world’s premise that anticipating public health leading technological institutions. RIT concerns is more eff ective than reacting was recently ranked in the top 40 “most to them. technologically advanced” universities in the world. • RIT’s sustainable architecture program is among the fi rst to consider sustain- • Today’s program portfolio boasts ability as a curricular element equal in award-winning programs in a host of importance to design. nontraditional disciplines—in fi lm and animation, industrial design, sustain- • RIT sustains the sound fi scal policies ability, photography, medical illustra- that have enabled its remarkable growth tion, microelectronic engineering, and stability. packaging science, museum studies, and diagnostic medical sonography. • RIT commits to carbon neutrality, Th e RIT portfolio is among the richest LEED-certifi ed buildings, and sustain- and most diverse in the world. ability-focused degree programs. • RIT is a world leader in experiential • In 2014, RIT was named “the nation’s education. Our cooperative education geekiest campus,” a distinction we program is the fourth oldest and one embrace with pride. of the largest in the world. • RIT is one of the largest private universities in the U.S. based upon full-time undergraduate enrollment. SPRINGSPRSPSPRINGININGNG 201520201515 ||7 7 A RESPONSIVE UNIVERSITY: THE CONTEXT t a time when the public disenchantment with higher education is growing, and disruptive (oft en commer- cial) alternatives are looking more and more appealing to prospective students and their families, the real measure of a university’s success is the degree to which its off erings satisfy the demands of its many stake- holders. Th e current list of these demands is lengthy and all too familiar—including calls for lower tuition, Ahigher return on investment, and graduates who are competitive in the job market.