A Word from Dean Richard Goodstein – February 2018

February 5, 2018

Dear Friends,

Our students, faculty and alumni constantly remind me of their talent, creativity and thoughtful interpretations of the world around us through their inspired work.

Over the past month, I had the opportunity to see several noteworthy projects that provided tangible evidence of how the college’s focus on collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and different forms of communication are resulting in world-class research and artistic accomplishment.

Dean Richard Goodstein takes in “The Last Glacier” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Professor Todd Anderson’s prints are featured in the collaborative limited-edition book.

At the same time, I was struck by how critically important our work in CAAH is at Clemson. Research by industry thought leaders such as Google, IBM and the World Economic Forum indicates that employers are looking for graduates with a balance between “hard skills” in technology and the personal attributes that enable them to interact effectively in the workplace – the strong communication and collaboration skills we focus on in the College.

In January, I was proud to see Todd Anderson’s woodcut print interpretation of the shrinking glaciers in Glacier National Park on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This is a remarkable accomplishment as The Met rarely acquires art from living, academic-based artists. All 15 copies of Anderson’s co-authored book “The Last Glacier” have been acquired, not only by The Met, but also the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Yale, Wellesley, and of course, Clemson! For an inside look at Todd’s process, see the 2017 Clemson World magazine article “Thin Ice.”

Our design programs in Charleston are thriving in their new home at the Cigar Factory. The latest accomplishment was the January unveiling of a full-size mock operating room that was the product of a $4.1M grant from the Department Health and Human Services to improve healthcare through human-centered design. In the transformational project spearheaded by Anjali Joseph and David Allison, Clemson faculty and students are developing a safer, flexible operating room that focuses on the changing needs of doctors, nurses and patients.  Clemson is partnering with the Medical University of South Carolina. The project, “Realizing Improved Patient Care Through Human-Centered Design in the OR,” has already won two national awards for conceptual design and the reimagined operating room will be installed at MUSC’s Ambulatory Surgery Center in the future. As industry professionals agreed at the unveiling, Clemson’s Health + Architecture program is unparalleled in the country.

Ron Rash read new work and answered questions.

Last week, best-selling author Ron Rash gave an inspired reading of some of his poems and an extended piece from an upcoming novel. Ron, who earned a Master of Arts in English from Clemson, paid tribute to his college mentors, including three influential members of the Clemson faculty who recently passed away: Frank Day, Bill Koon and Roger Rollin. Ron said he “owes so much to this university.” His writing provides deep insights into the roots of Appalachian culture, and I am grateful to him for sharing his time and work with an enthusiastic audience.

Finally, be sure to watch for an upcoming “Clemson Moments” commercial during the Winter Olympics that will feature Rayshad Dorsey, a 2017 architecture grad who is now attending Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design on a full-ride scholarship.

It’s a great time to be a Clemson Tiger, and I offer you warm wishes for February.

Sincerely and Go Tigers,

Rick