November 12, 2019
Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:
I am writing to inform you that Dan Martin has decided to step down from his role as dean of CMU’s College of Fine Arts.
I am grateful to Dean Martin for his service as dean for the last decade. His dedication during this time has served to highlight and celebrate the impactful work of the remarkably diverse and high-ranking programs housed within the College of Fine Arts, which has increased the visibility and reputation of CFA.
For example, Dean Martin established an overarching operating structure within CFA, including facilitating the emergence of a transdisciplinary culture. Through this collaborative spirit, he developed a sense of cohesiveness among the CFA programs while allowing each to retain its own unique identity. This also was evidenced in the recruitment of excellent leaders in several schools and units.
Another example of his interdisciplinary approach was the expansion of the BXA Intercollege Degree programs. In particular, he oversaw the creation of the engineering and arts additional major in which students with a primary major in engineering choose an arts concentration to complement their studies.
He also oversaw the growth of myriad resources for the college, such as the acquisition of the Melwood Avenue building – the former home of Pittsburgh Filmmakers – to expand education and creative efforts around time-based art and to create maker spaces for exploration of collaboration across the arts and media technologies. Other examples include procuring new equipment for the School of Music, additional operating support for the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art and the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, and additional faculty and staff support for the School of Drama and the School of Design.
During Dean Martin’s tenure, Carnegie Mellon became the first, exclusive higher education partner of the Tony Awards and annually presents the Excellence in Theatre Education Award. Through the affiliation with The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, Carnegie Mellon grants an annual award to a K-12 teacher who inspires students through theater arts education.
Under Martin’s leadership, the College of Fine Arts also served as a core campus partner in establishing the IDeATe program in which undergraduates undertake significant integrative activities in digital media, media design, learning media and intelligent environments.
A search committee to identify Dean Martin’s successor will be formed and announced this fall, with the goal of naming the new CFA dean by fall 2020. Martin will continue to serve as dean until a replacement is named and then will return to the faculty in the School of Drama.
In the meantime, please join me in thanking Dean Martin for his outstanding leadership in the College of Fine Arts and at Carnegie Mellon University. I hope you will join me in celebrating his accomplishments with him at a later time this academic year.
Regards,
James H. Garrett Jr.
Provost
Thomas Lord Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering