Ed Lathy, Bill Hunt, Richard Aschenbrand, and Carl Garant at the Teaching Excellence Award ceremony.

The end of this school year was bittersweet as five members of the CCAD family (including three deans) retired from the college.

Deans Richard Aschenbrand, Carl Garant, and Edward Lathy have given a collective 126 years to CCAD. In addition to the deans, faculty Steven Botts and Bill Hunt also joined the ranks of retirees.

Richard Aschenbrand has served CCAD for 45 years. He joined the faculty in 1967 and became dean of Visual Communications in 1995. He has taken on a variety of roles at the college, from gallery manager to director of arts and grants. In addition to his CCAD work, Aschenbrand has maintained a robust graphic design business and schedule of exhibitions and guest lectures.

Carl Garant bestows an Outstanding Senior award.

Carl Garant joined the CCAD faculty in 1974 and became dean of Industrial and Interior Design in 1991. After 38 years with the college (where he is known affectionately as Big Dog), he retires having authored three books and dozens of academic papers on design, in addition to his countless hours working with students. The Industrial Designers Society of America honored Garant with its 2005 National Educators Award.

Ed Lathy joined CCAD’s faculty in 1969 and became dean of Liberal Arts in 1981. He has taught courses in writing, criticism, and metaphor and the arts, as well as serving numerous academic leadership roles during his 43 years at the college. Lathy has presented papers regionally and nationally on post-modern criticism and symbolism in writing. He is also a jazz drummer (and in that capacity is fondly known as Fast Eddie).

Ed Lathy at the 2012 Teaching Excellence Awards

Steven Botts is a CCAD alumnus (1970) who graduated with a degree in Illustration and went on to teach in that major.  In addition to his teaching career, Botts has maintained a successful freelance illustration business. His client list includes Bank One, Ross Labs, 20th Century Fox, Ohio Historical Society, Warner Communications, Zaner-Bloser, and numerous other educational publishers.

Professor Bill Hunt has balanced his professional ceramics work with full-time teaching in the Fine Arts and Graduate Studies departments. His studio work has been represented in numerous national and international exhibitions and collections, including the permanent collections of the Saga (Japan) Prefectural Art Museum, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and the Canton Museum of Art, as well as in a variety of books and magazines. Hunt also has extensive experience as a curator, editor, and writer in the art and craft fields.

The retirees were honored at the 2012 Teaching Excellence Award (TEA) reception, which was capped by the announcement of this year’s recipient, Liberal Arts Assistant Professor Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis.

In addition, the deans were awarded honorary doctorates during the 2012 commencement ceremony.

Richard teaching a class at CCAD

Vice President of Academic Affairs Kevin Conlon underscored the impact each dean had on his department.

“Richard Aschenbrand is known for his energy, commitment, and passion about no-compromise design, and he’s literally inspired generations of students here at CCAD. Alumni consistently ask about Richard because, whether they loved him or hated him, they learned from him. The continuing quality of the programs he supervised was evidenced in this past year’s work, and those major’s continuing growth is a testament to the hiring, guidance, and development of the faculty that he recruited over the last several years.”

“Carl Garant has been impressive as a force within both Industrial and Interior Design for several years, looking for creative ways to integrate those two majors while at the same time offering other majors across the college the opportunity to understand “Big D” design. It’s not just making things that matters to him, but a way of thinking about problem-seeking and problem-solving.  His way of thinking about design—manifested most recently in his biomimicry course—and the partnerships that he helped to think about and forge, will continue.”

“Ed Lathy’s sense of humor and quick mind has entertained faculty and students for years.  But he’s more than just a fun and funny guy. He’s been a strong mentor to many great faculty within the Liberal Arts department and has created a legacy there that will endure through the leadership he created within the program.  So whether students are taking courses in writing, philosophy, science, or art history, a little bit of Ed exists in each of those courses.”

While CCAD is sad to see such wonderful colleagues depart, there is no doubt their retirement will bring many more accomplishments in their art and design fields.