The three associate directors of the The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center will be promoted to co-director this spring when its current director steps down at the end of April.
Associate Directors Ana Baptista, Timo Rissanen and Brian McGrath will transition into the Center’s leadership position when current director Michelle DePass takes a new job as CEO of the Oregon-based nonprofit Meyer Memorial Trust.
“All three of us, me, Timo, and Brian, are really passionate about the environment and social justice,” Baptista said. “We all do it in different disciplines. Timo’s in fashion and Brian’s in design and urbanism, and I’m doing it more in the policy and advocacy world.”
DePass also serves as the dean of Milano and a search for her replacement is underway, school officials said.
The Tishman Center was founded in 2005 by the executive dean of Parsons, Joel Towers, who served as its inaugural director until DePass’ arrival in 2013. Towers announced his own departure in 2017, but remain(s?) in his post until his successor is found. He plans to take a new role as university professor.
The Tishman Center, which leads sustainability initiatives at The New School, has hosted events like the People’s Climate Justice Summit and the Zero Waste Food Conference. #DisruptClimateInjustice, a university-wide initiative organized by the Center, aims to bring the discussion of climate injustice into New School classrooms from Feb. 26 to March 2.
The Tishman Center’s Strategic Plan, which outlines their goals and visions from 2016 to 2019, includes the mobilization of faculty, students and staff to become more “service-oriented climate citizens,” and an increase in “awareness of design, policy, and social justice solutions.”
“We’re a place and space where people come together around a similar theme,” said university sustainability associate at the center and Milano alum Molly Johnson. “We’re an environment and design center so those are going to be the topics around which we organize the work that we do.”
Ana Baptista joined the center three years ago. She is also an assistant professor in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management Program at Milano.
Timo Rissanen, an assistant professor of fashion design and sustainability at Parsons, has been with The New School since January 2010. Rissanen has been an associate director at the Tishman Center since August 2017.
Brian McGrath, is a professor of urban studies at Parsons has been part of the Tishman Center since 2017.
Baptista acknowledged the shared leadership structure fostered by the Tishman Center that made the selection of those already doing the job easy.
“It just made sense practically to transition to the three associate directors, to just continue to lead as we have been doing together already,” Baptista said.
While the promotion of Baptista, Rissanen, and McGrath to director makes sense given DePass’ departure in the middle of the semester, Baptista said they’re not sure what will happen beyond the current academic year.
“I don’t think we’ve had a chance to really meet with the provost of the university to see what the future will hold, but for now I think it was the most practical thing to do,” Baptista said.
“Plans for the Tishman search have not yet been finalized,” said Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs Amy Malsin, “We look forward to sharing more information as it progresses.”
