William H. Sanders was named RIT’s 11th president. He was introduced to the community on Jan. 28.
Sanders is currently dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. He will assume RIT’s top post July 1, succeeding David Munson who will retire after serving eight years as RIT’s president.
Get to know RIT’s next president in this question and answer with Sanders.
1. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I enjoy outdoor activities, including hiking, kayaking, and canoeing. I also enjoy going to plays and getting together with friends to share home-cooked meals as well as going out to eat at local restaurants and listening to live music. I have also enjoyed photography as a hobby throughout my life.
2. We hear you enjoy amateur astronomy. Tell us how that began in your childhood?
I am a child of the Space Age, fascinated by the Apollo space program. When I was 12, I joined a class at the Grand Rapids, Michigan, public museum to build a 6-inch reflecting telescope, grinding the mirror for it by hand. That sparked my interest in space and astronomy further, and I joined and became active in the local amateur astronomy club. The club had an observatory (JC Veen Observatory), where I spent most clear nights as a teenager. This led to an interest in photometric photometry, doing observations for a professor at Vanderbilt University, and eventually working during summers when I was an undergraduate at Optec Inc., where I helped design the SSP-3 solid-state photometer.
3. What’s a favorite childhood memory?
Spending time at my family cabin in northern Michigan. My grandmother and grandfather built the cabin in 1937, and I would spend several weekends and a couple weeks there each summer. We did all the things you would expect—walking in and exploring the woods, hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, and spending quality time with my grandparents and family.
4. Tell us about your family?
Traci Westcott
Sanders and his wife, Emily, pose with Ritchie before the community announcement.
My wife, Emily, who studied French and art history at Michigan State University, made our family her career, supporting me and our children in innumerable ways. She enjoys art, gourmet cooking, travel, knitting, and hiking. Our daughter, Elizabeth, recently received her Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue and is now a postdoc at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Our son, Zach, has a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Purdue and is an R&D engineer at Cardinal Health in St. Louis. Both enjoy playing musical instruments in their spare time.
5. Do you have any pets?
We have a very energetic 4-year-old Labradoodle named Ollie.
6. What was your first job?
My first job was during high school, working at a dry cleaner, first as a janitor and doing odd jobs and later as a presser. I also worked occasionally at the local planetarium, running the shows.
7. If you have time, what have you been watching lately?
We just saw A Complete Unknown in a movie theater and really enjoyed it. I don’t watch much TV, but I like watching Michigan and other Big Ten college football games and various shows on PBS.
8. What are you reading?
I enjoy reading The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker. I always have a stack of books on my nightstand but don’t have a lot of time to read them.
9. What are you listening to or what’s on your playlist?
I mostly listen to jazz, some classical and folk, but enjoy other genres as well. I’m a fan of Susan Werner and Bruce Springsteen, especially his Broadway show, Springsteen on Broadway.
10. What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
People are surprised to know that as a teenager I owned a “muscle car,” a 1971 Mercury Cougar with a 351 Cleveland engine.
11. What excites you about moving to the Greater Rochester area?
Obviously, joining the RIT community excites me the most, but I am also excited by the thrill of discovering Rochester and the surrounding region: exploring the Finger Lakes, eating at local restaurants, and meeting new people.
Traci Westcott
Sanders spoke with members of the RIT community, including graduate student Colin Farmer, at his introduction. He begins his tenure as RIT’s 11th president on July 1.