Five Faculty Members in RIT’s School of Media Named to Endowed Professorships

Rochester Institute of Technology has appointed five faculty members to endowed professorships in the School of Print Media.

Charles Bigelow, former digital typography professor at Stanford University, holds the Melbert B. Cary Jr. Professorship in Graphic Arts. Bigelow is the co-designer of the Lucida Bright and Lucida Console typefaces for Microsoft Windows, the Lucida Grande typeface for the MacIntosh OS X, and Monaco and Geneva typefaces for Apple. He has served as a typographic consultant for Apple, Microsoft, Sun, IBM, Adobe, R.R Donnelley, Scientific American and other firms. He is a former MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellow and a recipient of the Frederic W. Goudy Award in Typography from RIT.

Patricia Albanese, former chief information officer and executive director of library, information and technology services at Mount Holyoke College, has been named the Gannett Center for Integrated Publishing Sciences Endowed Professor. Under Albanese leadership, Mount Holyoke introduced an information commons, a new open source courseware/eportfolio management system, and a content management system for managing the Web site. In 2005, Mount Holyoke Library received an Excellence in Academic Libraries Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Prior to working at Mt. Holyoke from 2002-2006, Albanese served as the director of RIT’s Wallace Library for 22 years. Wallace Library was one of the first academic libraries to use computing and information systems to provide network access to library resources.

Twyla Cummings, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Print Media and Graduate Program Director, has been named the Paul and Louise Miller Endowed Chair. She provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the areas of media industries analysis, distribution and research methods. Cummings’ research is in the areas of media distribution and printing industry trends. Cummings was recently inducted into the NAPL Soderstrom Society, a not-for-profit trade association that recognizes excellence in graphic communications management.

Franziska Frey, Ph.D., has been named the James McGhee Endowed Chair. She is teaching courses and is involved in research projects in the Sloan Printing Industry Center at RIT and the Munsell Color Science Laboratory. Before joining the faculty in 2001, she worked as a research scientist in RIT’s Image Permanence Institute establishing guidelines for scanning, quality control, viewing and archiving digital images. Frey publishes, consults, and teaches in the U.S. and around the world on various issues relating to establishing digital image databases and digital libraries.

Patricia Sorce, Ph.D., administrative chair of the School of Print Media and co-director of the Printing Industry Center, holds the Roger K. Fowcett Distinguished Professorship in Publication Color Management. Sorce is a former professor of marketing in RIT’s E. Philip Saunders College of Business where she taught for 20 years. Her current research is focused on the topics of relationship marketing and the factors that impact the demand for personalized printing using digital color production technologies. Sorce is the author of the book Data-Driven Print: Strategy and Implementation, which outlines a clear plan to print companies and marketing managers on the impact of customized marketing communications.

“The appointment of these five people to endowed professorships is deserved recognition for their research and years of expertise in various areas of the print industry,” says Joan Stone, dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. “The breadth of their work is another reason why RIT’s School of Print Media continues to shine as one of the top institutions in the world for its undergraduate and graduate programs.”

Rochester Institute of Technology is internationally recognized for academic leadership in computing, engineering, imaging technology, and fine and applied arts, in addition to unparalleled support services for students with hearing loss. More than 15,500 full- and part-time students are enrolled in RIT’s 340 career-oriented and professional programs, and its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For nearly two decades, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT among the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. The Princeton Review features RIT in its 2007 Best 361 Colleges rankings and named the university one of America’s “Most Wired Campuses.” RIT is also featured in Barron’s Best Buys in Education.