Alumni News

The Innovative Maker and Learning Complex will be a building like no other on the RIT campus, and an alumnus who is helping make it possible wants RIT students to give it a name to remember. A contest to name the building is for current RIT undergraduate and graduate students in good standing. Deadline for submission is March 13. Voting will begin March 18.

Board of Trustees member Austin McChord ’09 will be taking questions from Reddit during an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session at 4 p.m. Monday. McChord will be taking questions on a variety of topics, including an exciting new opportunity for current students that launches on March 1.

A virtual opening reception for the Dyer Arts Center’s newest exhibit will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, via Zoom. The exhibition “This is Not Normal: Deaf Modernist Sensibilities,” will showcase Surrealism and other works within the broader genre of Modernism by Deaf artists.

The Khaleej Times features JayShaud Potter '19 (applied arts and sciences), a professional studies and MBA student, and his Smart Pillow invention.

University Advancement has formally launched RIT’s new leadership annual giving program, Sentinel Society. The program aims to build a community of donors who make meaningful annual investments of $1,000 or more to the university.

As a visual effects (VFX) editor, Harlan Doolittle ’14 (film production) oversees virtually every visual-effects shot in each film or episode they work on by working with editors and producers on what they need creatively to help shape each individual shot with VFX artists and vendors.

NTID has announced the appointment of Marlene Mata as a new member of the college’s National Advisory Group. Members of the NTID National Advisory Group, whose appointments are approved by the U.S. Department of Education, advise the NTID president in developing and carrying out policies governing the operation and direction of the college.

RIT has announced a tuition scholarship program for New York state residents and graduates of New York colleges and universities seeking to further advance their career opportunities while the job market recalibrates and the country responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kyle DeFord has become one of the stars of the HBO Max show STYLISH with Jenna Lyons. But it didn’t happen overnight. Graduating in 2008 in the middle of a recession, DeFord took a position at J. Crew at Eastview Mall. After several years working locally, he was hired as a recruiting coordinator in New York City, which became a pathway for the work he is doing today.

CBS New York features Robert Schott '81 (graphic design), who creates snow sculptures in his front yard.

The Washington Post interviews Rebecca Hull '13 (biology), who has coordinated a campaign to distribute clear face masks.

The best-practice approach, known as the Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding, has now been rigorously tested and peer reviewed. The questionnaire will become a standard parent survey for professionals and researchers working in the early childhood development field, predicts lead researcher Barbara Lohse, director of RIT’s Wegmans School of Health and Nutrition.