News Stories

Two RIT students have won Google Ph.D. Fellowships for their work as some of the most promising young academics in the world. Emily Kuang and Allahsera Auguste Tapo—both in the computing and information sciences Ph.D. program—will receive full tuition, a stipend, and Google research mentorship as part of their fellowships for up to three years.

Nearly 300 people gathered on Friday evening at the beginning of Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend as RIT officials marked the successful conclusion of Transforming RIT: The Campaign for Greatness. RIT’s largest-ever fundraising campaign raised $1,059,581,463 to propel the university forward in its pursuits at the intersection of technology, the arts, and design.

With oversized orange scissors and an orange ribbon, the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) was officially dedicated Thursday, Oct. 12, in the center of the RIT campus. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was part of Brick City Homecoming and Family Weekend, as the Board of Trustees, President’s Roundtable, and many national advisory councils and volunteer groups are on campus for the celebratory weekend.

RIT business students and faculty have experienced a number of major enhancements to Max Lowenthal Hall since the start of the fall semester, as the home of Saunders College of Business nears completion of a multi-million dollar expansion and renovation project.

RIT was recently awarded $2 million as part of the Biden Administration’s “Investing in America” program to focus on creating jobs in the high-demand areas of infrastructure and transportation.

RIT continues to be a leader in diversity in higher education, as recognized by INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. The publication announced RIT as a 2023 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award winner and a 2023 Diversity Champion. This is the 10th consecutive HEED Award and ninth consecutive Diversity Champion designation for RIT.

Jake Adams, a lecturer in RIT’s School of Interactive Games and Media, mixes his backgrounds in fine arts and interactive media to create digital holographic comics, or holocomics. Using a specialized Lightfield holographic display from the company Looking Glass, the comic books become 3D holograms with sound, animation, and interactivity.

The second annual Together RIT: A Day of Dialogue is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, with this year’s programming centered on gender and sexuality. Together RIT gathers the campus community and creates space to ask questions, empathize, build solidarity, and give recognition to the current and future social issues.

Tom Connor, former vice president of creative marketing at Walt Disney Co., has been appointed assistant provost at RIT. In addition, Connor, an alumnus of RIT’s School of Film and Animation, has also been named the Paul and Francena Miller Chair in International Education and will serve as a professor of practice in RIT’s College of Art and Design.

Fifth-generation apple farmer Jamie Sonneville understands the stresses that come with predicting revenue in the agriculture industry. That’s why Sonneville built an intuitive labor management software tool. Her company, Agri-Trak, is part of RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator.

RIT is receiving $500,000 from the Google Cybersecurity Clinics Fund to train new cybersecurity professionals, while providing services for public good at the same time. The funding from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, is part of a $20 million collaboration with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics that Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced in June.

RIT’s Changing Hearts and Minds Award, which recognizes success in diversifying the university’s faculty ranks and helping to advance RIT’s overall commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, has been awarded to the College of Science.