As RIT President Dave Munson and his wife, Nancy, prepare to say goodbye to the community, one unique campus building will bear their names as part of their legacies. The naming of the Dave and Nancy Munson Amphitheater, part of the new Music Performance Theater, was revealed at a celebration June 12 in the SHED, surprising the couple before a crowd of students, alumni, dignitaries, board members, and family members. Munson will retire from RIT on June 30 after serving in higher education for a span of nearly 50 years, including for eight years as RIT president. Board of Trustees Chair Susan Puglia made the announcement, emphasizing that the amphitheater will face into the heart of the campus. “Dave and Nancy, I am delighted to share with you that a number of your friends and RIT supporters have come together to collectively make a gift to RIT that when the theater opens, it will include the Dave and Nancy Munson Amphitheater,” she said. “For generations of RIT students to come, they will see performances, hear speakers, or just meet up with their friends at the Munson Amphitheater.” The 50,000-plus-square-foot, 750-seat music performance venue is scheduled to open in January. ‌ Carlos Ortiz/RIT A mosaic artwork made from images of RIT students formed a composite picture of the SHED, which symbolizes the Munson’s focus on community, creativity, and student opportunity. Here, Nancy and Dave Munson take a closer look at the gift. Frank Sklarsky ’78 (business administration accounting), Board of Trustees vice chair, emceed the evening and noted the couple’s deep influence on the RIT community. “The RIT community is here to celebrate the Munsons and express their gratitude for everything they have accomplished over the last eight years. Their impact has extended far beyond our Henrietta campus and can be seen in all of our Tigers worldwide.” Under Munson’s tenure, RIT saw the completion of major capital projects, including the SHED, the ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute, and expansions to the Saunders College of Business and research facilities. The university also surpassed the $1 billion mark in its Transforming RIT fundraising campaign. In addition, Munson is credited with enhancing interdisciplinary offerings as well as entrepreneurship and hands-on learning. To commemorate these contributions, RIT Trustee and alumna Hope Drummond ’91 (business administration-marketing) and Todd Jokl, dean of the College of Art and Design, unveiled a mosaic artwork made from images of RIT students. The mosaic forms an image of the SHED, symbolizing the Munson’s focus on community, creativity, and student opportunity. “As you bring this with you into retirement, we hope it will serve as a reminder of the community you have cultivated and the lives you have changed,” said Jokl. ‌ Carlos Ortiz/RIT RIT President Dave Munson, center, poses with students at his farewell celebration on June 12 at the SHED. Throughout the evening, speakers emphasized not only Munson’s institutional achievements, including positioning RIT as an example of where technology meets the arts and design, but also the personal warmth and partnership he and Nancy brought to the role. Puglia praised the couple’s “bold vision, innovation, and the genuine spirit of collaboration,” describing Nancy as a “steady beacon of support” whose volunteer work and presence touched the entire community. “While we celebrate these impressive milestones, tonight is also about the human heart behind these achievements,” Puglia said. June 12 was also “David Munson Day” in the region, as proclaimed by Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, who presented a certificate and key to the city. The evening also featured a tribute video highlighting memorable moments—including Munson’s welcome videos to incoming students to kick off each academic year with humor and inspiration.

RIT’s physician assistant program celebrated its 30th graduating class this year, and now its biggest champion, former director and founder Heidi Miller, is preparing to retire at the end of June after nearly 32 years. Miller developed the PA program and introduced a unique major focused on direct patient care. In the late 1980s, Miller worked at Rochester General Hospital as a physician assistant specializing in emergency medicine. Her reputation for mentoring younger PAs led to an invitation to join an RIT task force considering a new major for the College of Science. In 1993, Miller wrote the PA curriculum, prepared the program for approval, and became the program’s first director. The following year, Nancy Valentage joined the program to help navigate clinical partnerships, and together they graduated the first class in 1995. Recognition of the profession in the late 1980s and early 1990s as an accessible and affordable healthcare option gave the field, established in the mid-1960s, a boost as the next medical profession. “RIT jumped on that,” Miller said. “We were the 54th program in the country, and right now there are over 300. We were right on the cusp of a significant growth and expansion of the profession.” As the medical program gained momentum, prospective students vied for a limited number of seats. (Enrollment is tied to available training opportunities at clinical partnerships.) In 2011, the PA program helped anchor RIT’s new College of Health Sciences and Technology. The college grew from a strategic partnership between RIT and Rochester Regional Health. The RIT-Rochester Regional Health Alliance, which includes Rochester General Hospital, strengthened collaborative opportunities with Miller’s former employer. “It was a full-circle moment for me,” she said. Below, Miller shares reflections from her time at RIT and looks forward to the future. What are you most proud of when looking back at your time at RIT? We have always had a team approach, even from the first years of training students, to recognize that they were entering the field of medicine as part of a team. Everybody has to work closely together for the best care of the patient, which was the core philosophy that we tried to impart onto the students. What are some of your fondest memories? Certainly, graduating the first class, moving the undergraduate program to a five-year BS/MS in 2016, and creating the Annual Awards and White Coat ceremony. I think, for many students, getting their long white professional coat is probably more meaningful than graduation. I also have fond memories of the many dedicated colleagues who have advocated, supported, and helped create and grow this program. We couldn’t have prepared our students without the support of the medical community—RIT-RRH Alliance and the University of Rochester—in training, recruiting, and employing a lot of our alumni. It ‘takes a village’ to train competent, compassionate, and hard-working patient care providers. Many of our alums have stayed in the area and work in the two big health systems, as we know it now, so I think our program has contributed to the workforce. What are your retirement plans? I’m a member of the Rochester Academy of Medicine Board of Trustees, and I hope to increase my volunteer time. I also do a fair amount consulting with New York State Department of Health in professional practice areas. I am an avid reader, and I also hope to do more writing. I’m involved with the PA History Society, based out of Atlanta, and I am currently finishing a historical dissertation on the profession. In a different area, I have a soft spot for animals, and so volunteering at animal sanctuaries is high on my list. My family and I are planning a trip to Italy in August, and we’re looking forward to it. Both of our daughters recently graduated from graduate programs, and so this is kind of a big celebratory trip for all.