2021 -- S 0976

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING ROSANNE SOMERSON, PRESIDENT OF THE RHODE ISLAND

SCHOOL OF DESIGN (RISD), ON HER FORTHCOMING RETIREMENT AND HONORING

HER FOR A LIFETIME OF SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS AS AN ARTIST AND PUBLIC

SERVANT

     Introduced By: Senator Dominick J. Ruggerio

     Date Introduced: June 23, 2021

     Referred To: Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar

     WHEREAS, Rosanne Somerson was born in Philadelphia and attended the Rhode Island

School of Design where she attained a B.F.A. degree in Industrial Design in 1976. While at RISD

she took a semester off to attend the full-time furniture making workshops at Peter’s Valley

Craftsmen (Peter’s Valley School of Craft). After graduation, Ms. Somerson worked as a

correspondent for Fine Woodworking Magazine, and has pursued her own furniture-making

practice, creating highly honored work that has been shown in prominent museums such as the

Louvre’s Musee des Arts Decoratifs, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of

Fine Arts Boston and the RISD Museum; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Somerson began her distinguished public service career teaching

woodworking at the Harvard Extension School from 1977 to 1978, and at the Boston

Architectural Center in 1981. Ms. Somerson joined the Rhode Island School of Design faculty in

1985, teaching furniture design. In 1995 she became the first leader of RISD’s new Furniture

Design department, helping to forge the department’s reputation as being a leader in its field; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Somerson served as RISD’s Interim Associate Provost for Academic

Affairs from 2005 to 2007, as Interim Provost from 2011 to 2012 and as Provost from 2012 to

2013. After an international search, she emerged as the top candidate for President and was

appointed the college’s 17th President by the Rhode Island School of Design Board of Trustees on

February 18, 2015; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Somerson has been fully committed to expanding equity, diversity and

access across all spectrums of the RISD campus and community. As president she developed,

with the faculty and students, RISD’s first Social Equity and Inclusion Action Plan and has made

RISD an even more welcoming and accepting place of learning and working for all faculty,

students, administrators and support staff; and

     WHEREAS, As President of the Rhode Island School of Design, Ms. Somerson was a

fierce and tireless advocate for the arts and RISD’s distinctive studio-based education principles.

She also worked hard to develop a culture of philanthropy at RISD. Thanks to her exemplary

leadership and guidance, during her tenure, RISD increased support for scholarships, financial aid

and other important priorities. These efforts led to the largest fundraising gains in RISD’s history;

and

     WHEREAS, President Somerson has received numerous honors throughout her esteemed

career. An interview with her is included in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art Oral

History Project, and she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. She

also was the recipient of the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Crafts Educator Award, and

the 2019 Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby congratulates Ms.

Rosanne Somerson on her forthcoming retirement as the President of the Rhode Island School of

Design and honoring her for a lifetime of significant achievements as an artist and public servant;

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Ms. Rosanne Somerson, President of the Rhode

Island School of Design.

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