PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island School of Design’s board of trustees announced Thursday that Crystal Williams will become the art college’s 18th president on April 1. Williams, Boston University’s current vice president and associate provost for community, will succeed Rosanne Somerson, who retired June 30 after being with the arts college for more than three decades, including as president since 2015.
David Proulx served as RISD’s interim president during the fall semester.
Williams comes to Rhode Island with more than two decades of experience working in higher education. RISD said she began her career teaching at Reed College in Portland, Ore., in 2000 where she became a faculty activist, working with colleagues to envision a more diverse and inclusive college. Williams, as a result, was appointed Reed’s inaugural dean for institutional diversity, RISD said.
At Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Williams in 2013 became the college’s first associate vice president for strategic initiatives before moving on to Boston University in various roles associated with diversity and inclusion, RISD said.
In an interview Thursday with Providence Business News, Williams said she believes there is “real power” in multiplicity, where diverse perspectives help create and catalyze “deeper, richer conversations.” Those can result in more creative and innovative decisions and outcomes, she said.
“It’s been my sense that the more difference we have around the table, the more interesting the conversations are and the more successful our outcomes are,” Williams said. “Whether that’s in the classroom where we have students who are from urban America… and first in their families to go to college, who are children of professors with different racial backgrounds … those conversations just become much, much richer.”
Learning, Williams said, is heightened when there are differences of opinion in the room. For artists, Williams said, part of what they are doing is “grappling what it means to be human,” giving a voice to that experience through fine art or design.
In a statement, Williams said she entered the search to become RISD’s next president because she believes in the value of art and design to elevate and amply the human experience, as well as to narrate who we have been and who we can become.
“Art, education, and equity and justice are the three foundational focuses of my life and everything about me – who I am as a teacher, a writer, a leader, friend, daughter and human – are in accord with RISD’s mission, areas of focus and social equity and inclusion goals,” Williams said. “Having the opportunity to serve as RISD’s president, to sustain and build on RISD’s core strengths and work on behalf of its extraordinary students, faculty, staff and alumni is a profound honor.”
RISD said its 15-member search committee and 11-member student advisory council were convened to help find Somerson’s permanent successor, and Boston-based search firm Isaacson Miller supported the search. More than 100 candidates from around the world were considered for the president’s position, RISD said.
“Crystal has done the real work behind the words – the hard, relentless, unglamorous, often under-recognized work. She has a deep commitment to leading change. It is for all of these reasons and many more that we believe Crystal is the ideal next leader for RISD,” RISD Search Committee Co-Chairs Hillary Blumberg, Ilene Chaiken, Karen Hammond and Tavares Strachen said in a statement.
Williams said she is humbled with the talent that exists at the Providence-based arts college, both within the student body and the faculty. Williams also feels that artists and designers “tell it like it is” through their work, but also “imagine what is possible.”
“My long commitment to advancing the arts and arts advocacy is what called me to this role [as president] at this time,” Williams said. “If I can be helpful in any way in catalyzing their creativity and talent, and harnessing it collectively, I’m game for it.”
(UPDATES throughout with comment from Williams.)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
