Rhode Island School of Design
Two College Street
Providence, RI 02903-2784 USA
T 401 454 6100
Dr. Carol Strohecker will join RISD’s academic leadership team as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the end of August. With her extensive work in art, design and media, industry, educational technology, and learning environments, she brings distinctive expertise and valuable experience to initiate and advance many significant strategic initiatives at RISD.
“The Search Committee found Carol to be a dynamic thinker with a long history of fostering and developing creative collaborations and managing complex initiatives,” said RISD Provost Rosanne Somerson. “Those who have worked with her in prior roles remarked on her energy, her intelligence and her commitment to building an inclusive and cooperative community. We look forward to welcoming her to the RISD community.”
Most recently, Strohecker served as Director of the University of North Carolina’s multi-campus Center for Design Innovation. In this capacity, she worked with students, faculty, advisors and staff to lead collaborative research, education, design and community economic development programs based on technologies for data sensing, capture, analysis, modeling and visualization. Prior to this role, she was the Principal Investigator of the Everyday Learning Group and one of the first researchers at the MIT-affiliated Media Lab Europe, where she advised program development for the European Commission’s Directorates-General for Education and Culture and for Information Society and Media.
After completing her undergraduate degree in journalism, Strohecker held positions in publishing and the graphic arts at the National Geographic Society and the Walters Art Museum. She earned her Masters in Visual Studies at MIT and completed her doctorate there in 1991, working with the renowned educational technologist and artificial intelligence theorist Seymour Papert. Emerging as a learning environment designer specializing in interactive media, she became one of the first researchers at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, where her collaborative work became the basis of four US software patents. Strohecker is a founding co-Principal investigator of the SEAD network for Sciences, Engineering, Arts and Design. She has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Media Lab Europe and Learning Lab Denmark.
About RISD
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. Recently ranked #1 in Business Insider’s survey of The World’s 25 Best Design Schools, 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, Rhode Island among the most culturally active and creative cities in the region. For more information, visit www.risd.edu or our.risd.edu.
