Today, Dennison W. Griffith announced his retirement as president of the Columbus College of Art & Design, a role he has held since 1998. He will retire at the end of his current contract, which runs through June 30, 2014.
“For reasons that are related to my belief that institutions are best served when their leadership is periodically refreshed, and personal ones linked to my family and to my ambitions as an artist, I’ve decided that this is the right moment to retire from the college and to redouble my commitment to my own art work,” Griffith said in announcing his decision to CCAD faculty and staff today. “I will serve out my 16th and final year with the same vigor and passion that I’ve always brought to this job and will assist the board and the college in all ways possible to ensure a seamless transition in leadership.”
Griffith recently had a showing of his artwork, a new series of encaustic paintings that are predominately white, entitled The White Paintings at the Hammond Harkins Galleries.
The search for a new president for the college will be headed by Robert P. Restrepo, Jr., chair of the CCAD board of trustees.
“Denny’s impact on CCAD, the Discovery District neighborhood and the larger central Ohio community cannot be understated,” says Restrepo. “He’s enthusiastically transformed the college into one that is growing and financially secure, and continually raising the bar for itself and similar institutions around the country. He led the effort to build strong partnerships with the business community and played a key role in the resurgence of downtown Columbus. We’re clearly better for his leadership. On behalf of the board, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Denny for his commitment to CCAD and our community.”
A few of the achievements realized under Griffith’s leadership include: doubling the size of the CCAD campus facilities with the addition of 275,000 square feet of studio, classroom, and residential assets; launching a Masters of Fine Arts program; and embarking on designing a new curricular model and master schedule through a forward-looking mix of business education with innovative and design education to launch fall of 2014.
“I’ve been deeply and powerfully affected by my time here and continue to savor the demands, experiences and profound relationships that have become woven into my life,” Griffith said today in his communication to the 330 faculty and staff of CCAD. “CCAD is in my heart forever.”
For more information, visit CCAD.edu.
Photo courtesy Columbus College of Art & Design.