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Dean, Tisch School of the Arts; Associate Provost for the Arts

Mary Schmidt Campbell, B.A., M.A., PH.D.;
HON.: D.F.A., D.H.L., PH.D.

Provost liaison for:

  • Cross-school initiatives in the visual arts and music
  • University's arts programs

Photo: Marc WaisMary Schmidt Campbell was appointed Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts in 1991 and Associate Provost for the Arts in 2004. She is also Chair and Professor in the Department of Art and Public Policy.

Under her stewardship as Dean, the Tisch School has tripled the number of applications it receives, cut the acceptance rate in half, and increased the percentage of minority students studying there from 10 to 30 percent. She has initiated major renovations of the School's film facilities; inaugurated new programs in Art and Public Policy, Film Preservation and Archiving, and Recorded Music; and is currently leading the School in a $75 million capital campaign. As Associate Provost for the Arts, Dr. Campbell provides guidance and leadership in the arts which transcend individual schools at NYU and oversees the activities of the new coordinating councils in visual arts and music.

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Campbell was New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs in the Edward I. Koch and David Dinkins administrations. Previously, she served as executive director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, guest curator and curator at the Everson Museum of Fine Arts in Syracuse, NY, and art editor of the Syracuse New Times.

Dr. Cambell is co-author of Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987) and Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940-1987 (New York: Oxford University Press & The Studio Museum in Harlem, 1991). She and TSOA faculty member, Randy Martin, recently co-edited Artistic Citizenship (New York: Routelege, 2006). She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and sits on the boards of the American Academy in Rome, the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the United Nations International School.

Dr. Campbell received a B.A. degree in English literature from Swarthmore College, an M.A. in Art History from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. in Humanities, also from Syracuse.