University of Michigan

 

Dean, Art & Design

 

We are pleased to announce that the University of Michigan has appointed Gunalan Nadarajan as its new Dean of Art & Design, effective July 1, 2012.

 

An art theorist and curator, Nadarajan is currently Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), where he oversees 16 graduate programs in art, design, and media, and three research centers.  Prior to joining MICA in 2008, Nadarajan was Professor of Art and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Arts and Architecture, Penn State University (2005-2008).  In 1996, Mr. Nadarajan established the Department of Art Theory and Art History at Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore.  He served as its Dean of the Visual Arts from 2001 to 2003 and Dean of Research and Creative Industries during 2003-2004.

 

His publications include Ambulations(2000), Construction Site(edited; 2004) and Contemporary Art in Singapore (co-authored; 2007), Place Studies in Art, Media, Science and Technology: Historical Investigations on the Sites and Migration of Knowledge (co-edited; 2009) and The Handbook of Visual Culture (co-edited; 2010) and over 100 book chapters, catalogue essays, and academic articles. He was contributing curator for Documenta XI (Kassel, Germany), the Singapore Biennale (2006) and he served on the jury of a number of international exhibitions, such as ISEA2004 (Helsinki / Talinn), transmediale 05 (Berlin), ISEA2006 (San Jose), Future Everything Festival (Manchester, 2010), and ISEA2011 (Istanbul). He was Artistic Co-Director of the Ogaki Biennale 2006, an international exhibition of media arts in Japan and Artistic Director of ISEA2008 (International Symposium on Electronic Art) in Singapore. In 2004, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art. He is currently working on a National Science Foundation funded initiative to establish a national network for art, science, engineering, and design.

 

A native of Singapore, Mr. Nadarajan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Sociology and a Bachelor of Social Science degree with Honors in Sociology from National Singapore University.  He has Master’s degrees in Sociology from the National University of Singapore and in Philosophy (Aesthetics) from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.