Inaugural Director, School of Performing Arts

Inaugural Director, School of Performing Arts

Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Liberal Arts

Rochester, New York

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) seeks an entrepreneurial, innovative, and ambitious leader to serve as the founding Director of the School of Performing Arts (SPA). With significant support from senior leadership, new facilities projects under construction, and a rich history and tradition in the performing arts, the inaugural Director will have the unparalleled opportunity to expand on dynamic existing programming led by a talented faculty and to leverage RIT’s unique position at the intersection of technology, arts, and design, in establishing the performing arts school of the future.

Founded in 1829, RIT is one of the top universities in the nation, and through creativity and innovation, and an intentional blending of technology, the arts, and design, RIT provides exceptional individuals with a wide range of academic opportunities, including a leading research program and an internationally recognized education for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Beyond the main campus in Rochester, New York, RIT has international campuses in China, Croatia, Dubai, and Kosovo. With more than 19,700 students and more than 140,000 graduates from all 50 states and over 100 nations, RIT is driving progress in industries and communities around the world.

The College of Liberal Arts (COLA) is excited and proud to announce plans to launch The School of Performing Arts at RIT. This collaborative effort will ultimately become the leading performing arts program for non-majors in the nation. The SPA will also develop innovative, respected, and sought-after degree programs and professional education opportunities that leverage RIT’s strengths. It is expected that the Director will continue to support and expand the long-standing, and deep collaboration between the College and the National Technical Institute for Deaf (NTID), serving as a cornerstone of the growth, quality, and advancement of the entire performing arts ecosystem at RIT. With the creation of SPA, students across all disciplines will have increased opportunities to benefit from RIT’s unique brand of performing arts education, technological innovation, research, and engaged, applied and experimental learning, as it fuses traditional performing arts study and practices with cutting-edge technology, first-class imaginative performance spaces, and inspired creative opportunities.

The School of Performing Arts will be headed by a nationally recognized and distinguished inaugural Director whose vision, energy, and scholarly record will establish the School, amplify RIT’s success as a best-in-class performing arts environment, and move the entirety of RIT’s performing arts ecosystem into the future. The Director will unite faculty around a shared vision and sense of identity for the performing arts at RIT, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, foster and establish new performing arts programming both in and out of the classroom, grow the faculty and enrollment, and ensure the School is well resourced to meet its ambitions. Building on the nationally distinctive Rochester context, a region thriving in the creative and performing arts and technology sectors, SPA will also have an active community and public engagement mission.

RIT has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this recruitment. Inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed electronically and in confidence to the firm as directed below.

Ben Tobin, Partner

Elizabeth Dorr, Managing Associate

Stephen Kalogeras, Associate

Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/search-detail/S8-286

RIT does not discriminate. RIT promotes and values diversity, pluralism, and inclusion in the workplace. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientations, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status, or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs, and activities. For more information or inquiries, please visit RIT/TitleIX or the U.S. Department of Education at ED.Gov