Thomas Warfield named NTID's first Professor of Practice

Award-winning performer and Rochester, N.Y., native Thomas Warfield has been named the first Professor of Practice by Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

As NTID’s first Professor of Practice, Warfield will teach and tutor undergraduate and graduate students in performing arts and dance disciplines, advise and mentor deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and support both NTID Performing Arts and RIT’s College of Liberal Arts School of Performing Arts by serving as a bridge between the practitioner and the academic community. He has been the director of dance at RIT for 25 years.

“Thomas’s talents as a singer, dancer, actor, model, composer, pianist, choreographer, director, producer, educator, activist, and poet make him singularly qualified to rise to the rank of Professor of Practice,” said Gerry Buckley, NTID president and RIT vice president and dean. “His art and advocacy continue to break barriers in the Rochester community and beyond. He brings talent, compassion, and the sensibility of both an artist and educator to every aspect of his personal and professional life. We are thrilled to name him NTID’s inaugural Professor of Practice.”

At RIT, Professors of Practice provide effective practice-oriented instruction, have a distinguished and sustained record of achievement, and possess a combination of education and professional experience. Among those holding Professor of Practice rank at the university include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Cay Johnston.

“Thomas exemplifies the ideals of our institution,” said Kelly Norris Martin, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “His exceptional talent across various artistic disciplines, coupled with his dedication to advocacy and mentorship for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, will undoubtedly continue to enrich the experience of our students at RIT. We–students, faculty, and staff–are so lucky to have him here.”

Erica Haskell, inaugural director of the School of Performing Arts, added, “We are honored to have Thomas Warfield serve, in a joint appointment between NTID Department of Performing Arts and the School of Performing Arts, in his new role of Professor of Practice. He brings such a wealth of creativity and activism to our students in a multitude of disciplines. In his many years at RIT, he has engaged in groundbreaking and cutting-edge performances with collaborators across RIT. His deep and lasting relationships within the Rochester community, and around the globe, help our students contextualize their work and bring renowned artists to our campus.”

An international performing artist, Warfield has performed on stage, television, and film in more than 100 cities worldwide.

His childhood dance training was with Olive McCue at the Mercury Ballet, and piano and voice training at Eastman School of Music where he performed with Opera Theatre of Rochester and local theatre groups. He also trained in New York City at the School of American Ballet.

Warfield holds a bachelor’s degree in dance and journalism from SUNY Purchase, and a master’s in dance ethnology from the University of Utah. His professional dance career has included performing with the Joffrey Ballet, Jane Dudley in London and New York, and ballet companies in Hong Kong, Stockholm, Paris, San Francisco, Macau, and elsewhere. His numerous and diverse professional performances include at the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Boston Symphony, Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, and a Royal Command Performance for the late Queen Elizabeth II in London.

An east coast tour of his original project AstroDance, which combines dance and astrophysics, was funded by the National Science Foundation.

He is the founder and artistic director of the 34-year-old PeaceArt International, Inc., a global project using the arts to foster world peace.

Warfield was recently appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to the New York Hate and Bias Prevention Council, and has served as co-chair of the City of Rochester’s Arts & Creative Community Committee. He serves on the boards of Garth Fagan Dance, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

He has served on the YWCA Diversity Advisory Board, Eastman School of Music Action Commission for Racial Justice, is a former president of ARTWalk, a former president of Association of Teaching Artists, a founding board member of MuCCC Theatre, and president emeritus of the William Warfield Scholarship Fund.

Warfield is the recipient of numerous awards, including the U.S. House of Representatives Congressional Special Recognition Award, New York State Commendation Award, United Nations Peace Award, American Ethical Union Award, Empire State Pride Agenda LGBTQ Champion Award, National Dance Education Association Award, University of Rochester Medical Center Red Ribbon for HIV Research, City of Rochester Unsung Heroes Award, National Task Force on AIDS Prevention Award, Rochester Pride Parade Grand Marshall, and an off-off Broadway award for choreography. Warfield’s first solo album of original compositions, “Celebrate the Moment,” has sold throughout the world and can be found on iTunes and Spotify.