RIIHEA

By RACHEL AVIV
Published: July 27, 2008

AFTER graduating from Brown in May, David Noriega, a 21-year-old comparative literature major from Binghamton, N.Y., moved a few miles away from campus and began reading the books he didn’t have time for in college. While most of his classmates have started jobs in new cities, he is paying cheap rent, playing in a noise band, working on translating two Mexican novels — a voluntary extension of his thesis — and looking for a day job that’s “probably not motivating or career-furthering.”

“The graduation ceremony is this giant, expensive gesture telling you that you are done here,” says Mr. Noriega. “And yet I’m still wandering around the same spaces, passing the desolate main green, wondering what exactly it is that I’m doing.”

Mr. Noriega, faced with the pressure of graduation, is not alone in his decision to, more or less, ignore it. Come commencement, many linger for months or years, prolonging the intermediate stage between college and the rest of their lives.

DOHA, Qatar – Roger Mandle will move to the Persian Gulf this summer when he leaves the Rhode Island School of Design, to take the reins of the Qatar Museums Authority, the QMA board of trustees said today.

“The Qatar Museums Authority is the vehicle for the aspirations of the Qatar people to create a unique complex of institutions for the 21st century, to speak of the cultural history of their region and its connections to the world,” Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, chair of the QMA board of trustees, said in a statement today.

Headlines

• Athena Awards Honor Arts Excellence: April 10
• Susan Szenasy to Lead Discussion on “Making It Better”
• 2008 Honorary Degrees Announced
• Where We Are Now: Symposium on Women in Architecture
• Gayle Mandle’s Work Benefits Scholarship Fund
• Spencer Foundation Supports Forum in Art + Design Collegiate Teaching

By William Hamilton
PBN Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island School of Design today announced that John Maeda, associate director of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, will become the next school president when Roger Mandle steps down in June.

Maeda, 41, a professor at MIT since 1996, most recently been responsible for managing research relationships with more than 70 industrial organizations at the Media Lab. He also has been a practicing designer since 1990 and has developed advanced projects for corporations including Cartier, Google, Philips, Reebok and Samsung, among others.

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Providence, RI - Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) today announced that the landmark 15 Westminster Street property, home to the award-winning Fleet Library at RISD and residences for 500 students, will be named for Roger Mandle, the longest serving RISD president since the early 20th century. In a resolution passed on October 27, RISD’s Board of Trustees voted to name the former Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building at 15 Westminster Street as The Roger Mandle Building: The Rhode Island School of Design Living and Learning Center.

Roger Mandle’s extraordinary tenure as the president of Rhode Island School of Design has been one of expansive growth and visionary achievement, a period in which his accomplishments since 1994 have positioned the school for continued success in the decades ahead. Mandle announced in February that he would not seek renewal of his contract, which expires in July 2008. A search for his successor is currently underway.

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By: Michael Skocpol

With the trappings of an international peace conference and the jovial atmosphere of a wedding reception, President Ruth Simmons and Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle officially signed an agreement Friday afternoon to launch the new Brown/RISD dual degree program.

The two presidents met at the University Club on Benefit Street - neutral territory, of course - to swap friendly words and affix their signatures to an official memorandum of understanding at a brief ceremony attended by roughly 30 people from both universities.

The program - slated to bring its first students to campus in Fall 2008 - will enable a select group of up to 20 students per year to earn both a bachelor of fine arts from RISD and a bachelor’s degree from Brown. Their studies will be split evenly between the two campuses over the course of five years, with students taking all of their classes in a given semester on one campus in order to avoid conflict between the two schools’ differing calendars.