David Munson Headshot

David Munson

President


585-475-2394
Office Location

David Munson

President


Education

BS in electrical engineering, University of Delaware; MA, MS, Ph.D. in electrical engineering, Princeton University

Bio

Dr. David C. Munson Jr. became Rochester Institute of Technology's 10th president in 2017.

As RIT's president, Dr. Munson is responsible for one of the nation's leading creative and innovative universities that leverages the power of technology, the arts, and design for the greater good.

Founded in 1829, the university is home to 19,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. This includes campuses in China, Croatia, Dubai and Kosovo. More than 125,000 RIT Tiger alumni are shaping and improving the world.

RIT is the third largest producer of undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math among all private universities in the U.S. RIT also is home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and has one of the oldest and largest cooperative education programs in the country. In 2018, sponsored research reached a record $78 million, while the university's endowment now stands at $938 million.

Dr. Munson has nearly 40 years of experience in higher education, which includes serving as the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan from 2006 to 2016.

Dr. Munson earned his BS degree in electrical engineering (with distinction) from the University of Delaware in 1975. He earned an MS and MA in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1977, followed by a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1979, also from Princeton.

From 1979 to 2003, Dr. Munson was with the University of Illinois, where he was the Robert C. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Research Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory and a faculty member in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

In 2003, he became chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan prior to becoming dean.

Dr. Munson's teaching and research interests are in the area of signal and image processing. His current research is focused on radar imaging and computer tomography. He is co-founder of InstaRecon Inc., a start-up firm to commercialize fast algorithms for image formation in computer tomography. He is affiliated with the Infinity Project, where he is coauthor of a textbook on the digital world, which has been used in hundreds of high schools nationwide to introduce students to engineering.

Dr. Munson serves on several boards, including: The Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities (a2ru), Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (NY), Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council, George Eastman Museum, Greater Rochester Enterprise, Permanent.org, Rochester Area Colleges, Rochester Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Regional Health, RIT Croatia, and the Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance.

Dr. Munson is married to Nancy Munson, who is a nurse, avid runner and community volunteer. The couple has four sons and four grandchildren. 

585-475-2394