Charlie White appointed dean of Sam Fox School

White succeeds Carmon Colangelo, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts, who has led the Sam Fox School since its formation in 2006. Colangelo will conclude his deanship June 30, after 20 years.

“Charlie White has a long record of academic accomplishment,” Martin said. “His collaborative approach and commitment to fostering a culture of belonging make him ideally suited to guiding the next generation of artists, designers, innovators and thinkers. I am thrilled to welcome him to campus.”

Martin also expressed his gratitude for Colangelo’s long service. “Carmon has led the Sam Fox School through a period of extraordinary growth. Scholarships, professorships, academic programs and facilities — all have greatly expanded during his watch. His wisdom, energy and insight have created a remarkable legacy.”

As head of the CMU School of Art since 2016, White oversaw the transformation of faculty, facilities, curriculum and administrative structures to expand technologies, enhance access and broaden traditional forms of making — while also providing extraordinary opportunities for practical, digital and experimental learning.

Under his leadership, the school’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program built a new graduate studio facility, expanded its faculty and achieved a free, fully funded tuition model. Along with enhanced curricular and cultural growth, these advances led to the program being ranked #2 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report this spring.

“Charlie White brings to the deanship a rare combination of artistic distinction and academic leadership, along with a deep understanding of how art, architecture and design education can thrive within a leading research university,” Provost Mark D. West said. “His appreciation for the full breadth of the Sam Fox School — including the vital role of the Kemper Art Museum — will serve the school and our community exceptionally well in the years ahead.”

At CMU, White also led the rethinking of a new undergraduate curriculum and significantly bolstered the School of Art’s recruitment, recognition and cultural impact in Pittsburgh, across the nation and around the world. With Elizabeth Chodos, founder and director of the Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh, White helped to envision and lead a successful capital campaign for the institute’s new building, which will open next year.

As a professor at USC’s Roski School of Art and Design from 2003 to 2016, White first developed and led a groundbreaking program in digital imaging, video and media theory and then directed the school’s lauded MFA program.

“It is a true honor to have the opportunity to lead the Sam Fox School,” White said. “As one of the preeminent art, architecture and design schools set within a leading R1 institution, and aligned with a world-renowned museum, Sam Fox is a truly unique cultural platform unlike anywhere else in the nation.

“Nowhere else can one find such a high-level intersection of contemporary art, architecture and institutional activity. From deeply committed forms of personal expression, to complex social and spatial problem solving, to vanguard exhibitions and programming, the Sam Fox School offers historic, current and speculative ideas in one broad space of learning.”

White was a fellow at the Yale Norfolk Summer Program in 1994 and earned a bachelor’s in fine arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York the following year. He earned an MFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., in 1998.

White’s photographs have been exhibited internationally, with solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LAXART, Locke Galerie in Berlin, Domus Artium in Salamanca, Spain, and the Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York, among others. His film work was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes, France, and his popular work includes collaborations with fashion brands such as Adidas, Balenciaga and Diesel as well as music videos.

White’s work has been published in multiple monographs and covered in major publications, from Artforum and The New York Times to Frieze, The New Yorker and Wired. He has written and spoken widely on topics relating to contemporary photography, popular representation and art education.

“Bridging creative dichotomies over the arc of my career became invaluable to my understanding of arts education today,” White said. “It helped me grasp how myriad programs and career trajectories sit within the larger creative economy — and the cultural roles of idea making, problem solving and experimentation.”

White will reside in St. Louis along with his wife, poet and fiber artist Stephanie Ford, and their 14-year-old son.

A leader in architecture, art and design education, the Sam Fox School is committed to advancing those fields through innovative research and creative practice, excellence in teaching, a world-class university art museum and a deep commitment to addressing the social and environmental challenges of our time. Through the work of its students, faculty and alumni, the school strives to create a more just, sustainable, humane and beautiful world.

The Sam Fox School encompasses three primary units, each with a rich individual history. The College of Art, founded in 1879, was the first professional, university-affiliated art school in the United States. The College of Architecture, established in 1910, was among 10 founding members of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The Kemper Art Museum dates to 1881 and was the first art museum west of the Mississippi River.