Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts announcement
June 27, 2024 2:02 PM

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to share that Jacob (Jake) Pinholster has been selected to serve as the next dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Until officially approved his title will be dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts designate. His appointment will begin September 16.

After a competitive national search, Professor Pinholster emerged as a uniquely qualified and clear choice to lead FAA, as underscored by his clear vision for advancing the college, his strong record of success in past leadership roles, and his enthusiasm about the opportunity to bolster the college’s excellence in teaching, research, and engagement.

Professor Pinholster is executive dean for enterprise design in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University and the founding director of the ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center — a 118,000 square-foot emerging media technologies and practices facility in the center of downtown Mesa. In addition, he advises graduate programs in interdisciplinarity, digital media and performance, extended reality technologies, and immersive experience design.

As an educator and administrator, Professor Pinholster has been involved in several long-term initiatives that fuse technology, interdisciplinarity, and curricular innovation, and he has been an invited speaker on these topics at the National Association of Schools of Theatre, the Leadership Institute of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and Live Design International (LDI). As a designer, his efforts have centered on projection and media design and technology for performance. His professional media/projection design credits include the “Pee Wee Herman Show,” “Carrie Fisher: Wishful Drinking,” “Current Nobody,” “Hoover,” “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” “Heddatron," and many other productions at off-Broadway, regional, and academic venues.

He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Production and a Master of Fine Arts in Scenic and Lighting Design from the University of Florida.

His focus on community and collaboration will enrich the college by fostering creativity, critical thinking, and cultural engagement. With his leadership, we ensure a vibrant arts community that inspires, challenges, and empowers students to excel in a rapidly evolving world. His valuable experience at ASU has positioned him well for this opportunity at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Venetria Patton, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for chairing the search committee and to thank all the members of the committee for their thoughtful and measured work throughout the process.  

Please join me in welcoming Professor Pinholster into his new role at Illinois.

Sincerely,

John Coleman
Provost