Today was my very first commencement as RISD’s president. The weather was fabulous, the ceremony ran beautifully, and the spirits on campus were way high. As I stood at the podium I could only think about how many years of incredible effort stood before me. Of course there were the many hours in studio spent by our students. But in addition immediately visible to me there today were all the parents that supported their son or daughter since birth … and I thought of how proud they must have felt to see their son or daughter to be born again decades later as a master RISD-creative.

During the ceremony I shot various photos that I will post next week. Congratulations to the class of 2009 and please do stay in touch with your RISD! -JM

Providence will soon see a new 10,000-square-foot building, targeted at start-up businesses and artists, made from recycled steel shipping containers. The Box Office is the brainchild of Peter Gill Case MArch ‘97, architect and developer, and was designed by Joseph Haskett MArch ‘02 of Distill Studio and Joshua Brandt of Stack Design Build to develop the project.  The building, when completed, will use 25% less energy than conventional new office buildings, and will offer tenants “green leases” that will give financial incentives for maximizing energy performance. Read more about the project in this Providence Journal article.

Gill Case is also founder of Truth Box, Inc., an architecture/development firm dedicated to the rapid transition to a green age: no waste, less energy used, healthy buildings and more renewable energy production. His projects include Monohassett Mills in Providence and Bayley Street Lofts in Pawtucket.

After conducting national searches for two key positions at RISD, the Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia Phillips as our new dean of Graduate Studies and Rajesh Bellani as our new associate provost for Student Affairs.

A well-known arts writer, curator, educator and administrator, Patricia will begin leading the Graduate Studies Division on August 1. She comes to RISD from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, where she has been a professor and chair of the Department of Art since 2007. For 16 years prior to that, she served as a professor, Art Department chair and dean of the School of Fine & Performing Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where she earned the SUNY Chancellor’s Recognition Award for Research in 2002. Patricia has also worked as editor-in-chief of Art Journal, the quarterly magazine published by the College Art Association, and has held several relevant teaching and administrative positions at Parsons School of Design.

Raj Bellani will begin work at RISD in July, coming from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he has worked for the past eight years in a variety of positions, including as assistant dean of Multicultural Affairs, associate director of Campus Life and most recently, associate dean of Academic Initiatives. Prior to his work at Colgate, he held student affairs positions at Wesleyan University, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo, The College of the Holy Cross and Western Illinois University (WIU). Having graduated with a BA in Political Science from SUNY Geneseo, Raj went on to earn an MS in College Student Personnel from WIU. In 2007, while working at Colgate, he completed his doctoral dissertation and graduated with an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Members of the search committees and the larger RISD community look forward to welcoming these two new colleagues to our team this summer.

Today I attended a special coordination meeting for some of the many staff volunteers that will be helping to make this Saturday’s commencement exercises be truly memorable for our graduates and their proud families. All things at RISD can happen because of the strong, tight-knit community we share here at RISD – Cecile Theroux (pictured speaking above) from Student Affairs has done a great job at pulling all of us together to make commencement fabulous.

At RISD there are many leaders of all categories that make things happen behind the scenes. Commencement is something entirely visible to everyone in the world, but as President I’ve learned that a ton of things happen behind the scenes all the time. With summer approaching, I am reminded of the arduous process of our yearly audit to occur over the next few months. When I came aboard last year, I was tickled to learn of a newer person on our staff, Kelly Morra, who as Controller had transformed RISD’s audit into something of legendary precision in the short span of a few years. I recall going to Kelly’s office to compliment her for her fine work, to which in a nanosecond she responded, “It wasn’t me — it was the amazing team that I have the privilege to work with!” At the end of the audit cycle I attended a lunch led by Kelly in appreciation for her audit team, and I was absolutely blown away by the kind of passionate respect that Kelly commanded among her team members. Kelly will be serving as our Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration shortly after commencement and I am excited to see what she will bring to our community in her new role.

Commencement is only a few days away. See you there! -JM

At RISD I find there is always a perspective that I have missed somehow — something that I want to consider in grasping the interesting complexity of our 132-year old institution. One of them came in my inbox as an accolade for one of our staff members Steven Bailey in the Registrar’s office about the excellent work he does in advising many of our international students from his unique perspective as a veteran. Since I was an undergrad myself I have been aware of how many international students have mandatory military service based upon their country of origin. Mr. Bailey does an incredible service to many of our students in advising them in readjusting from life in the military back to the RISD environment. Thank you to Mr. Bailey and to the many other members of our RISD community that quietly give to our students’ experience in such pivotal and transformative ways! -JM

One of our new Trustees that joined us last year, Scott Latham, has an interesting story on his path from RISD to becoming one of New York’s top commercial real estate brokers. Mr. Latham’s story tells us that the kind of critical-thinking and critical-making skills learned at RISD gives our graduates a great deal of flexibility. Characteristics that are especially important and invaluable in our new economic reality. -JM

If you are in the Providence area I suggest you visit the RISD Graduate Exhibition currently on display a few blocks from RISD’s central campus. Unfortunately I could not make the opening as I was in NY, but I was able to catch it getting set up the night before (”making-of” pics above), and also caught a glass crit there yesterday. It’s up until May 30! This inspired show was recently reviewed by Bill Van Siclen from the Providence Journal.

I signed my last commencement-related diploma and certificate for this year’s academic season just now. It’s hard to believe that almost a year has passed since I set foot on RISD soil and began to understand and appreciate RISD from its many perspectives. Only a few more days until our graduates … graduate. Look forward to seeing many of you there at the festivities. -JM

At its May meeting, RISD’s Board of Trustees voted in six new members and approved new bylaws that extend the terms of Board officers from one to three years, which leaves the current slate of officers intact through 2012.

Board Chair Merrill W. Sherman, president and CEO of Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc., was originally elected to the Board in 2000, served as Board secretary from 2002–04, vice chair from 2004–06 and was elected to the top post in 2007. That year she also led the Presidential Search Committee that selected John Maeda as president. In addition to her commitment to RISD, she is a director of the Providence Journal Company and serves on the boards of the Providence Foundation, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, Johnson & Wales University and Crossroads Rhode Island.

Vice Chairs Stuart Murphy ’64 IL and Philip E. Tobey BArch ’66 have each been active members of the Board for a number of years, and in addition to adding alumni voices to discussions at the highest level, they contribute their own disparate professional perspectives. Stu, an accomplished author and nationally recognized visual learning expert, has served as a trustee since 1993, was elected vice chair in 2004 and chaired the Academic Affairs Committee from 2001–04 and the Institutional Advancement Committee from 1996–2000.

Phil, a senior vice president of the Washington, DC-based architecture, planning and interior design firm SmithGroup, Inc., is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the AIA’s National Academy on Architecture for Health and a founder and fellow of the American College of Hospital Architects. He has served as a trustee since 1992, was vice chair from 2000–04, secretary from 2004–06 and is now a vice chair again. Together with Board secretary Kate Rittmann, vice president for marketing and client services at Rittmann Capital Management Company in Orinda, CA, the officers look forward to working with fellow trustees to shepherd RISD through significant transformations in the years ahead.

To help ensure the best possible leadership during this transformational period, the Board voted unanimously to endorse the following new members, who share a strong interest in RISD and in the issues confronting higher education in America.

• Michael Allen BArch ’82 joins the Board as an architect and executive vice president in the Washington, DC office of Hines Interests LP, a commercial real estate development company based in Houston. He grew up in Jamestown, RI and is an avid sailor who helped found the Museum of Yachting in Newport, RI.

• Erica DiBona, a film and television producer living in Los Angeles, has numerous credits to her name, including work on My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the highest-grossing independent feature film ever. Having gotten involved with RISD when her daughter Jamie Goldstein ’11 PT started her Foundation year here, Erica is now co-chair of the Parents’ Council.

• Stephen E. Lane BID ’85, who founded the Providence-based firm ITEM New Product Development with fellow RISD graduate Aidan Petrie MID ’85, is now helping to lead Ximedica, an offshoot of ITEM Group that develops innovative medical devices. Stephen has also taught in the Industrial Design Department and has been a frequent guest critic on campus.

• Susan Barbieri Montgomery ’71 AE/MAE ’78, a lawyer and intellectual property expert, is affiliated with the Boston firm Foley Hoag and is an Executive Professor of Business and Law at Northeastern University School of Law and School of Business Administration. In recognition of her consistent work on RISD’s behalf, the Alumni Association presented her with its Alumni Service Award in 2000.

• Michael Spalter co-founded and recently retired as general partner of Preservation of Capital Management, LLC. He cofounded the Brown University Entrepreneurship Forum with fellow Brown graduate Michael Joukowsky. He is also an active member of the Museum Board of Governors and he and his wife, Anne Morgan Spalter MFA ‘92 PT, are avid collectors of computer art.

• Toots Zynsky ’73 GL, a contemporary glass artist, is internationally recognized for a fused glass technique she developed herself called filet-de-verre. With her distinctive vessels included in the collections of major museums worldwide, Toots is an active member of the RISD Museum Board of Governors and her son, Diau Hall ’10 ID, has chosen to follow her lead by studying here as well.

Each of these enthused new trustees has been elected to serve a three-year term, effective immediately and running through May 2012.

It hasn’t hit a real road yet, but the Coda – the cutest little car-let around – has ventured beyond its studio incubator for a successful test run outside 160 South Main. Designed and built in last fall’s Out of Gas studio, the biodiesel three-seater is estimated to get more than 100 mpg. The inspirational alternative vehicle caught the attention of The Providence Journal (thanks to RISD’s Media Relations Department), which covered the project yesterday through both an article and a short video segment called WHAT’S NEXT: Car of Tomorrow.