Back to School - Bruce Ferguson named dean of school of arts at Columbia University; Richard Koshalek named president of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif - Brief Article

Art in America, Sept, 1999 by Stephanie Cash, David Ebony

Curator and cultural theorist Bruce Ferguson has been named dean of the school of the arts at Columbia University. A Canadian native, Ferguson has taught at numerous universities in the U.S. and Canada and has curated the Canadian sections in the Venice, Istanbul, Sydney and Sao Paulo biennials. He helped found SITE Santa Fe in 1993 and curated its first biennial in 1994, remaining as director through 1996. Currently head of the New York Academy of Art, Ferguson replaces Robert Fitzpatrick, who left the Columbia post last year to become director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Also entering the academic field is Richard Koshalek, who has been named president of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. Koshalek announced his resignation last year as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles after serving in that position for 18 years [see "Front Page," May '98]. He succeeds David R. Brown, who retired after 13 years as the design center's head.