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RIT’s 11th president installed, announces $15M for endowed professorships
Bill Sanders delivers remarks at the ceremony marking his inauguration as 11th president of RIT. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Lamark/RIT)
Bill Sanders delivers remarks at the ceremony marking his inauguration as 11th president of RIT. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Lamark/RIT)
RIT’s 11th president installed, announces $15M for endowed professorships
Listen to this articleBill Sanders was installed Friday as the 11th president of Rochester Institute of Technology, where he shared his vision for the school and announced the creation of five new endowed professorships, valued collectively at $15 million.
“Endowed professorships are important vehicles to retain and recruit our best faculty, formally and publicly acknowledge their excellence, and provide discretionary funds to allow them to take risks in research, enhance their teaching, and inspire students,” Sanders said.
Hundreds of people, including delegates from 42 universities and state and community leaders, attended the tradition-filled ceremony at Gordon Field House and Activities Center. Hundreds more watched online.
In addition to the newly created endowed professorships, which add to the 49 that exist today, Sanders outlined progress on the development of RIT’s new strategic framework, which he calls a shared ambition to build a university that is more inclusive, innovative and interconnected than ever before.
“As we stand at the threshold of a new chapter, I see a university that is not only ready for the future — but ready to shape it,” he said.
Sanders was officially installed as president by Susan Puglia, chair of the RIT Board of Trustees, and vice chairs Susan Holliday and Frank Sklarsky.
They presented him with the Presidential Collar of Authority, created in 1983 by the late Hans Christensen, the first Charlotte Fredericks Mowris Professor of Contemporary Crafts in the School for American Crafts.
Sanders has nearly 40 years of experience in higher education, having most recently served as the Dr. William D. and Nancy W. Strecker Dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from 2020 to 2025. He started at RIT on July 1.
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