Rochester Institute of Technology has named its next president.
The local university announced Tuesday that William Sanders, currently the dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, will take over at RIT after the current president, David Munson, retires at the end of June.
Sanders, 63, spoke to a gathering at Gordon Field House about the university’s strong tradition of creativity and innovation. He said that he is excited to see what RIT has done in terms of incorporating arts and the humanities along with its engineering courses.
When Sanders spoke with reporters after the formal introduction, he was asked about concerns raised in recent days among many in higher education, over things like funding, and continuing of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, since those areas have received pushback from the new Trump administration.
Sanders indicated that he feels DEI can continue, even if it’s in a somewhat modified form.
“I feel that we can create an environment where everyone belongs, everyone feels welcome, and everyone can thrive,” Sanders said. "We may change how we do some things based on the current situation, but we're going to create that environment that fulfills the values that drew me to RIT.”
Sanders also said he is closely monitoring the potential changes that have been hinted at regarding federal funding from programs like the National Institutes of Health.
“I’m monitoring the situation with regard to NIH very closely, the current proclamations are just pauses,” Sanders said. “Now, I’m not saying that everything’s OK because they’re just pauses today, but the situation is, as I said earlier, that we’ll monitor what’s going on, we will ensure that our programs can go forward.”
Sanders also is looking forward to seeing what RIT students and staff can do with the development of artificial intelligence, and contribute to the momentum in that field to help keep the United States competitive.
Sanders, who grew up in Michigan, said he’s not concerned about the winters in western New York, noting that he owns a cabin in northern Michigan “where there’s even more snow.” He added that he likes spending time in the outdoors and is looking forward to doing things like hiking and canoeing in the Finger Lakes.
