Reiter to lead School of the Art Institute of Chicago

College of Design Dean Wellington Reiter, will become the fourth President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The position is effective August 25. Reiter has been dean of Arizona State University's College of Design since 2003.<br /><br />During his time at ASU, Reiter has been a leader in design education, an advocate for the urban and built environments especially on behalf of ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, and a force for creative design. <br /><br />Reiter has placed ASU’s College of Design in a regional and national leadership position through the creation of two major initiatives—the Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory and the Master of Real Estate Development program. Through community outreach and professional development, he has gained the strong support of the local and regional design, real estate development, and planning sectors as evidenced by the growth of attendance in the annual Design Excellence Dinner, a premier ASU event. Dean Reiter is also responsible for shaping the future of the university’s Downtown Phoenix campus, orchestrating a new relationship with the City of Phoenix that unites academic and civic agendas and is a model of first-rate urban design.<br /><br />Now in a leadership position for design in Chicago, Reiter hopes to make stronger connections between the two cities and use his experience here in Phoenix to assist Chicago Mayor Daly with the planning for the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.<br /><br />“Given the legacy of the city, the institution, and the advancement of art and design within a very ambitious urban agenda established by Chicago’s Mayor Daley, this was an intriguing convergence of opportunity that I simply could not ignore,” says Reiter, who also is known as “Duke.”<br /><br />Provost Elizabeth Capaldi will shortly be appointing an interim dean and will also begin the process of searching for a permanent dean. <br /><br />“Since the day Duke Reiter arrived on our campus six years ago, he has been a force within ASU and in Metropolitan Phoenix,&quot; says ASU President Michael Crow. “It is no wonder that other institutions have had their eye on him. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago could not have picked a better leader than Duke.”</p>