Tichich named Director of ECU School of Art and Design

GREENVILLE, NC   (Sept. 13, 2004)   —   Richard Tichich was named the new director of the East Carolina University School of Art and Design.

Tichich comes to ECU from Georgia Southern University, where he served for more than 20 years as department chair and a professor teaching photography. His appointment at ECU became effective Aug. 2.

After receiving a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1979, Tichich served in numerous leadership capacities, including a stint as director of the Galveston Arts Center in Galveston, Texas. Tichich has been the recipient of several honors, including a 1995 fellowship on the American Council on Education and a 2003 Fulbright-Hayes Professional Development Grant for work in Argentina and Chile. He also received the Charles McDaniel Memorial Award for Excellence in Art Education, which was awarded to Georgia Southern University in 1986.

Tichich is a member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and an officer in the National Council of Art Administrators. He said he will continue to build both the School of Art and Design’s undergraduate and graduate academic programs and increase student participation in international and art outreach programs.

Tichich replaces former director of the school, Mike Dorsey, who also served as interim dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication.

The School of Art and Design at East Carolina University is one of the largest art schools in North Carolina, with more than 700 undergraduate student, 50 graduate students and about 50 faculty. Since 1962, the school has been an accredited, institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.