Explore boldly, fail safely, succeed spectacularly
RIT President’s Letter—RIT University Magazine fall 2025
It is a tremendous honor to serve as the 11th president of RIT. Since arriving this summer, my wife, Emily, and I have felt the warmth and energy of this remarkable university and the greater Rochester community.
We are a place of creators, makers, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Our students are bold and curious. Our faculty are deeply committed to excellence. Our staff are the backbone of our operations. And our alumni—more than 154,000 strong—are shaping industries and communities across the globe.
This fall, we welcomed more than 3,000 new undergraduates and hundreds of graduate students to our Rochester campus, along with 1,300-plus new students at our global campuses in Dubai, Croatia, and Kosovo. They join a vibrant, eclectic, and purpose-driven community of 21,400 scholars. From our people to upgraded and new facilities, labs, studios, and athletic fields, RIT is alive with possibility.
We are also making historic strides in research and innovation. Last fiscal year, RIT secured $105 million in sponsored research awards—a record for our university. Our faculty are leading breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, quantum science, space exploration, health technologies, sustainability, and more.
At the same time, we are navigating real challenges. The higher education landscape is shifting—federal policy changes, demographic pressures, and global uncertainties require us to be nimble and strategic. But I believe RIT is uniquely positioned to lead. We are practical, visionary, and resilient. We turn disruption into opportunity.
That’s why we’re developing a new strategic framework to guide our next decade. Built on four pillars—transformative student experience and success, world-changing research and scholarship, community well-being and belonging, and global reach and mindset—this plan will reflect the collective wisdom of our university. It will help us stay true to our values while imagining what comes next.
I’ve found a home at RIT. I see a university where all can explore boldly, fail safely, and succeed spectacularly. I see a community that lifts each other up and leans into the future. And I see a shared commitment to improving the world through creativity and innovation at the intersection of technology, the arts, and design.
Thank you for welcoming me. I look forward to working with you and to building the future of RIT together with you.
Warm regards,
William H. Sanders, President