The University Magazine

Winter 2010-11 issue

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Leading by example

From 1,000-mile canoe race to entrepreneurial ventures, RIT’s business college namesake completes what he starts

By Mindy Mozer

E. Philip Saunders didn’t want his teammates to get wet and muddy.

It was the last night of the Yukon 1000 Canoe and Kayak Race—the longest boat race of its type in the world—and Saunders’ six-man team, Sugar Creek Bears, had pulled into a muddy area to dock.

Saunders, who at ... (more)

Going Global

By Mindy Mozer

Miguel Adames always wanted to study abroad and had heard about opportunities for RIT students in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

But his advisor suggested he think about studying at the American University of Kosovo in Pristina, which is affiliated with RIT.

“I knew nothing about Kosovo,” says Adames, a fourth-year international studies and applied ... (more)

Global Campuses

RIT’s campuses abroad continue to grow

By Michelle Cometa

Seventy-six undergraduate students started this fall at RIT Dubai. They are the first undergraduate students to enroll in engineering, business, service management and information technology courses since RIT Dubai opened with graduate courses in 2008.

Focusing on this type of relevant coursework to encourage workforce development has made for a strong, strategic partnership between Dubai and RIT, ... (more)

Global Jobs

International co-ops provide students with global perspective

By Mindy Mozer

When Joseph Featherall was in high school, he would spend hours drooling over BMW sports cars with his friend, whose father worked at a BMW dealership.

In college, he also got to spend time with the cars but this time learning a different approach to engineering design as part of a co-op he just completed ... (more)

Global Lifestyle

Global Village residents have interest in study abroad

By Vienna Carvalho

Fourth-year biomedical sciences student Olivia Svrchek has a passion for travel that has taken her to Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Mexico. And now, she has brought her love for travel back to campus in an effort to help other RIT students satisfy their desires for exploration.

Svrchek, from North Creek, N.Y., was one of ... (more)

Global Village

Housing, commercial complex gives RIT new look

Global Village, RIT’s residential and commercial complex replacing a portion of River Knoll Apartments, provides upper-class students a state-of-the-art global living experience and community.

In addition to suite-style housing with lounges, community kitchens, meeting spaces and laundry rooms, the complex, which officially opened Sept. 30, also features a number of services just a few ... (more)

Storybook house

connects professor, alumna

By Mindy Mozer

In one book, happy children run and play in front of the fieldstone house with green shutters.

In another, Jack and Jill walk toward the same house to fetch a pail of water.

The house, which was featured in many Little Golden Books, was the home of illustrator Eloise Wilkin, a 1923 ... (more)

‘Dream come true’

Center inspires next generation of designers

By Kelly Downs

Massimo Vignelli describes it as a dream in gestation for nearly 30 years.

The world-renowned modernist designer finally witnessed the birth of that dream Sept. 16 as RIT officially unveiled the Vignelli Center for Design Studies.

Vignelli and his wife and design partner, Lella, spurred the creation of the center by ... (more)

Student group makes an impact then and now

By Mindy Mozer

When Eddie Hill and Bob Gaines were on RIT’s new campus in 1969, they didn’t see many other minority students or faculty members.

So they developed the Black Awareness Coordinating Committee, a student association designed to educate the university about diversity issues. A year later, the committee hosted the first ever Black Awareness Weekend held at RIT, says Hill, ’70 (photography). ... (more)