Advisory Art Director, Dadu Children’s Museum of Qatar and President Emerita, Rhode Island School of Design
A designer/maker, photographer, professor and academic leader, Rosanne Somerson has been advancing art and design for decades. She holds a BFA in industrial design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and an honorary doctoral degree in organizational leadership from Bryant University.
She co-founded the Furniture Design Department at RISD and ran its master’s program for many years prior to serving as RISD’s 17th president and, subsequently, president emerita. She currently serves as art director of the forthcoming Dadu Children’s Museum in Doha and has been appointed an Expert Committee member of the Shanghai International Design 100 think tank for a three-year term.
An author and subject of many podcasts, she frequently speaks and writes about the power of art and design as core elements of critical thinking and making. Her studio works have been featured in a multitude of publications and exhibited and collected in many major private, corporate and museum collections.
She has received numerous accolades, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Furniture Society. Both nationally and internationally, she continues to advocate for ways that design and creative works can contribute to a more just and humane future.
