Internationally renowned metal smith Hans Christensen taught at RIT's School for American Crafts for 29 years, until his untimely death in an automobile accident in 1983. Born in Denmark and educated at the School for Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen and the School for Arts and Crafts in Norway, Christensen came to the United States in 1954 without a single word of English, and joined the faculty of the School for American Craftsmen in Rochester, New York where he expressed total mastery of the language that is silversmithing.