The Rochester Institute of Technology announced its new president on Tuesday.
The university says its board of trustees has selected William H. Sanders as RIT's 11th president.
Sanders, the current dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering, will take over for a retiring David Munson, effective July 1.
Munson announced last April that he would retire after nine years in the role.
“It is clear to me that Rochester Institute of Technology is a very special place,” Sanders said in a statement. “RIT has taken a unique approach on its path to excellence, working at the intersection of technology, the arts, and design. RIT’s acceleration in excellence has been due to charting its own way—being strategic in picking the intellectual areas that it focuses on and creating an identity that does not seek to replicate what others are doing.”
The university says Sanders worked for 25 years as a tenured professor and held the Herman M. Dieckamp Endowed Chair in Engineering at the University of Illinois before joining Carnegie Mellon in 2020.
“On behalf of RIT and the Greater Rochester-Finger Lakes region, I welcome Bill Sanders and his wife, Emily, to our community,” Munson said in a statement. “Bill and I were faculty colleagues at the University of Illinois. I have watched Bill’s career soar to impressive heights—from a pioneering researcher and successful entrepreneur to a collaborative and strategic leader. I am thrilled to have Bill as my successor because his appointment ensures that the future of RIT is secure, and the university’s upward trajectory will continue.”
Adam Penale - Associate Digital Producer
Adam Penale is a Niagara University graduate, who has written for the Buffalo Bisons and the Niagara Gazette. He joined Spectrum News as an associate digital producer in 2020.