RIT Names Lorraine Justice as Dean of College of Imaging Arts and Sciences

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Lorraine Justice has been appointed dean of RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. She will begin her new role this summer. Justice currently leads the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Rochester Institute of Technology has appointed Lorraine Justice, director of the School of Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), as dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. Justice begins her new position in July.

Justice has worked in higher education for more than 20 years. For the past six years, she has served as director of PolyU’s School of Design. Under her leadership, the school has emerged as one of the top 30 design schools in the world and one of the top four Asian design programs.

BusinessWeek says PolyU’s design school is spearheading design research “as fresh as any program in the U.S., with multidisciplinary partnerships, sponsorship from global companies and a focus on ethnographic research.”

“Lorraine brings her international expertise in design, an energetic spirit of collaboration, vast experience for building industry and donor partnerships, and a commitment to strongly advocate for college faculty, staff, and students,” says Jeremy Haefner, RIT provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “We look forward to Lorraine joining the RIT family.”

Justice is a Fellow of The Industrial Designers Society of America. In 2008, IDSA awarded Justice with the National Educator Award. She serves on editorial boards for six journals and is an international consultant and accreditation expert on design. In 2006, ID magazine selected Justice as one of the world’s top 40 influential designers, praising her for “raising standards” for both design education and the industry.

Justice says there were many factors that attracted her to RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences.

“The range of creative programs; the excellent faculty members, staff, and students; and the superb facilities are just some of the things that make CIAS great,” says Justice. “I also appreciate the reputation of RIT and what it has become over the years. I look forward to strengthening what we can in CIAS and starting new ventures that will grow out of the expertise in the college.”

Prior to leading PolyU’s design school, Justice headed the industrial design program at Georgia Tech and served for several years at Ohio State University as a professor of visual communication.

A native of Pennsylvania, Justice obtained her BFA from Edinboro University and her master’s in design and Ph.D. in communications from Ohio State.

Justice adds: “I will certainly be glad to be back in the States and closer to my family and friends, but I will also be glad to get back to the beauty of nature found in the region. I missed the seasons and landscape found in New York and Pennsylvania. I also look forward to returning to the U.S. to help with its creativity and innovation programs. It is important to nurture this type of education to preserve our culture.”