News Stories

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 34: Studying history is more than poring over textbooks and old documents. History Professor Richard Newman and humanities Professor Lisa Hermsen talk about place-based learning, which gets students into the community to experience where the history happened.

When new students come to RIT, they join the ever-growing Tiger family. For John B. Lawrence and his younger brother, Jared Lawrence, the Tiger family is more than just a proximal community; it’s also based on actual bloodlines.

Christine Tisa ’92 MFA (painting) has made a living as an artist, educator, gallery owner, and yoga instructor since she graduated from RIT. Most recently, her art has jumped off the gallery walls and onto the pages of Audi Magazine.

Entrepreneur Reuben Zielinski ’85 (electrical engineering) ’96 (EMBA) believes that generating a great idea is actually the easiest part of the product development process. The hardest part? Convincing other people that what you have is a great idea and getting them to buy what you have developed.

During a 2008 visit to RIT while she was in high school, Madeleine Rabil ’13 (3D digital graphics) learned that the university’s then-called College of Imaging Arts and Sciences had just announced the creation of a new major for incoming students focusing on 3D as a medium. “I knew immediately that RIT was where I needed to be,” she says.

Charles Gaines ’67 MFA (art and design) made his name working outside of the boundaries of traditional western art practices. Now, he’s on a list of artistic legends as the 60th recipient of the Edward MacDowell Medal.

Jordan Darling’s career has soared as rapidly as the sleek watercraft he designs. The vice president of Nikola Powersports was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30, the prestigious designation given annually to top entrepreneurial talent in the United States and Canada.

Karen Braun had a clear picture of what she wanted to do with her life at a young age. As Braun grew up, she developed a wide variety of interests including photography, psychology, and physics. She ultimately found a new cross-disciplinary Ph.D. program in imaging science at RIT that let her pursue those interests all at once.

When Richard Newman graduated from high school, he never imagined he’d wind up being a college history professor. Newman, a professor of history in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, came to RIT in 1998. He specializes in early American, African-American, and environmental history.

Many RIT alumni have tapped into the craft-beer boom that has swept across the country in the past 10 years.

Researchers from RIT’s Future Photon Initiative, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory, have produced the Department of Defense’s first-ever fully integrated quantum photonics wafer.

Philip Gelsomino, a lecturer in Saunders College of Business, says the online platform is working amazingly well for his students. How are things going in your classes? Write us at univnews@rit.edu.