A Student’s Point of View: An Interview with RIT President, Dr. David Munson
Since I arrived at RIT, I wanted to meet Dr. Munson. Now that I am blogging for RIT Photo, I decided to ask for an appointment to interview him because I feel like he represents students and RIT. I wanted to learn more about him. As students, we don’t see Dr. Munson too often. Mainly Munson sightings occur during events and at the new series he created, “Fireside Chats” that he hosts with his wife, Nancy. So, I decided to share with you the experiences and feelings I had in my one-on-one interview with the RIT President. In my interview, I thought it would be a great opportunity to dig deeper and find out what makes him tick.
Prior to coming to RIT, Munson was the Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan. He was at Michigan fourteen years. During his time there, he enjoyed success and the experiences of leading students like us. He came to RIT because he did not want to stop. Munson expressed his appreciation of how the search committee and people at RIT had presented themselves to him and that was why he applied for the President of RIT position. He has a great partner in his wife Nancy and her support in his choice of leading RIT as its new President was enthusiastic.
Now starting his third year, President Munson has developed an understanding of how RIT students work. He admires the work ethic that students at RIT display daily and finds it fascinating to watch how the creative paths many students at RIT pursue can be positively unpredictable but lead to really wonderful outcomes. What surprises Munson so much is how the students make his job as President so much more meaningful.
I was also surprised to hear that he grew up with photography because of his father’s interest in it. President Munson is very fond of the photo program because of his relationship to the family camera while growing up. He spoke about taking photographs in elementary school and his Dad photographing him during their trips with his family to all forty-eight states and the majority of national parks (in the United States) while growing up.
Munson enjoys musicals and in fact performed in the theater himself as the Tin Man in a Wizard of Oz production. He shares this passion with his wife and their son. Munson enjoys beautiful shrubs, trees, flowers and landscaping when he has the chance! He is fascinated with learning new things about plants and nature because of his history camping as a boy scout. Fun fact, Munson enjoys astronomy and he owns 3 telescopes. He uses them in his free time along with his wife and sometimes while on their trips. He stated that enjoys the view of Saturn and Jupitar’s rings. I learned more than I can share in this post.
After meeting with President Munson, I felt his passion for “his” students and his hobbies. I was inspired after meeting him. During the interview I felt his ambitions and drive to help students grow as individuals and continue the evolution of RIT keeping it on its exciting path to the future.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the RIT President. I enjoyed writing it. Emily.
About Emily Suddock
Emily is a second-year advertising photography student who is also cross-registered in the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. I have been hard of hearing most of my life. I was born in China adopted by my loving family. They are a big part of life. I have a Nikon 600 with a 35 mm lens which I love taking portraits with.