ARTCENTER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Emeritus Trustee
- Trustee Emeritus
- Philanthropist
A philanthropist and volunteer leader, Alyce de Roulet Williamson has long been dedicated to the visual and performing arts communities of Los Angeles. Her involvement in arts philanthropy includes serving on the boards of the Music Center, the Los Angeles Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Center Dance Association and the Blue Ribbon, a premier women's organization that supports the Music Center. She is a past board member of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops. She also served on the National Advisory Council of the School of American Ballet in New York.
She has served on the Board of Governors of the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens since 1996, as well as its Art Collections committee and Art Collectors Council.
She is a Trustee Emeritus of Scripps College, a member of the board of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and a past board member of the Pasadena Guild of Children's Hospital and Las Madrinas. She is a board member and past Chairman of First Century Families and served on the Board of Governors for the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.
Williamson attended the Marlborough School, graduated from Dominican Convent San Rafael and received a BA from Scripps College in Claremont, California in 1952.
Williamson, an ArtCenter Trustee Emeritus, served on the board from 1985 to 2022. She is the Founding Chair of ArtCenter 100, the College's major community support group for student scholarships. Her late husband, Warren "Spud" Williamson, was an Emeritus Trustee and Chair Emeritus; and was an active Trustee from 1989 through 1995, including the position of Chair of the Board in the early 90s.
In 1992, she established the Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery at the College's Hillside Campus, a 4,600 square-foot space that has brought world-class exhibitions to ArtCenter, inviting students, faculty, staff and the general public to engage in a discourse about art, design and science.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Asst Director, Admissions
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Vice President, Marketing and Communications
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- Associate Director of Transfer Admissions
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- Chairman Emeritus
- Emeritus Trustee
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Appointed Vice Chair
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- Emeritus Trustee
- President Emeritus
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Director of Graduate Admissions
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Chairman Emeritus
- Emeritus Trustee
- Trustee
- Appointed Chair Emeritus Recognizing 10 Years of Leadership
- Chairman of the Board for Five
- President of R. Davidson
As part of a commitment to diversify and strengthen its governing leadership, ArtCenter College of Design has appointed Su Mathews Hale to the position of Chair, Board of Trustees. Mathews Hale assumes the role from fellow Trustee Robert C. Davidson Jr. who has held the position for the past 10 years. As he steps down, Davidson will become Chair Emeritus. The Board also appointed two new members, Michelle Gadsden-Williams and Ivy Ross at its annual meeting.
"I feel incredibly lucky to have aligned myself with two thoughtful, experienced and dynamic Board Chairs during my time at ArtCenter-first Bob, and now Su," said Lorne Buchman, who has served as president of the College since 2009.
Davidson has provided a stable foundation for the College and overseen the evolution of a more diverse Board of Trustees and student body, propelled in part by the launch of new educational programs and expansion of student services and faculty resources. With the purchase of neighboring buildings and property adjacent to ArtCenter's South Campus, he has also presided over the renovation of new state-of-the-art learning and gathering spaces, and the filing of a master development plan with the City of Pasadena. Additionally, Davidson oversaw the completion of ArtCenter's most recent fundraising campaign, raising $124 million, the largest fundraising total in the College's history,
A retired business executive, Davidson is currently president of R. Davidson and Associates, a management consulting firm. He joined the ArtCenter Board in 2004 and, beginning in 2010, served an unprecedented five-terms as Chair. He is the first African American to serve in this role at ArtCenter, and among the first African Americans to assume board leadership of a member institution within the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD).
"I am honored to have served as Chair of ArtCenter's Board of Trustees, which has given me an opportunity to steward this great institution for more than a decade." Davidson said. "The trustees have been incredibly generous in donating their time, talent and treasure to the College and, collectively, helping define the future of ArtCenter."
"It has been my pleasure to get to know Su over the last few years and I'm confident in her ability to lead the Trustees and the College going forward," Davidson continued.
Davidson will continue in his role as a Board member and was also named Chair Emeritus in recognition of his dedicated service to the College.
Robert C. Davidson, Jr. formed Surface Protection Industries, Inc. (SPI) in 1978. Under his leadership, SPI became one of the largest African American-owned manufacturing companies in California, ranking in the top 100 on the Black Enterprise list of America's top black-owned industrial/service companies.
Davidson has a strong entrepreneurial résumé. In the early 1970s, he headed his own management consulting firm and, prior to that, served as chief executive officer of Avant Garde Enterprises, a Los Angeles-based entertainment holding company.
In Boston, Davidson co-founded and served as vice president of the Urban National Corporation, a private venture capital company that was established to increase mainstream industry's investment in minority-controlled businesses. The organization raised $10 million in capital from many Fortune 500 companies.
The entrepreneurial spirit of Davidson's career path is also reflected in his commitment to community involvement. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ray Charles Foundation and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the following organizations: Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (NYSE); Broadway Federal Bank (NASDAQ); Cedars-Sinai Hospital Los Angeles; University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Advisory Council; The Huntington; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He is also Chairman Emeritus at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1998, Morehouse College honored Davidson, one of its most distinguished alumni, by naming the President's home and its executive center Davidson House. Davidson was the 1997 recipient of the Ronald H. Brown Award and the 1990 recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Save the Children Award from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center Jerusalem. He was also named Black Businessman of the Year by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Black MBA Association and Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association of Investment Companies.
Davidson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College and his MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from Morehouse College. In 2007, Davidson received the distinguished Benjamin E. Mays Award, which is named in honor of Morehouse College's famous former President. Davidson and his wife, Faye, are parents of three sons, one of whom is an ArtCenter alumnus. The Davidsons are art collectors and Faye is a member of the Pasadena Art Alliance.
Davidson joined the ArtCenter Board of Trustees in 2004 and served as Chair of the Board for five-terms (2010-2020). He is the first African American to serve in this role at ArtCenter, and among the first African Americans to assume board leadership of a member institution within the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. Davidson was named Chair Emeritus in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Asst Director, Admissions
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
CEO and chief creative officer of Su Mathews Hale Design, a multidisciplinary brand strategy and design consultancy, the College's new Board Chair has worked with a breadth of notable clients, including eBay, Samsung, Citibank, Walmart, Disney, Hawaiian Airlines, Hyatt, Taco Bell and Hershey's.
Mathews Hale has proven experience in nonprofit leadership and is president emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization's 100-year history.
"I joined ArtCenter's Board of Trustees to make a positive impact on designers at the earliest stage of their careers," Mathews Hale said. "Serving on the Board has given me the opportunity to use my voice to shape conversations on how we can prepare our students to not only learn how to create, but understand the powerful influence art and design can have on our society.
"Building a diverse student population is key to ArtCenter's future. As Chair, one way I will continue to address this is by working with Lorne Buchman and the Board to prioritize the challenge of tuition dependency and how ArtCenter can create greater access and affordability.
"Bob Davidson has left an indelible mark as Chair, and he will remain an important voice on the Board," she added. "I'm thrilled to welcome and collaborate with incoming Vice Chair Linda Hill. Along with ArtCenter's administration, faculty and board, Linda and I will support and encourage the College to examine and change its systems of inequity and provide marginalized students with an environment that is not just creative, but also inclusive and equitable."
Designer Su Mathews Hale is the new Chair of ArtCenter's Board of Trustees. Trustee Robert C. Davidson Jr., who has held the position of Board Chair for the past 10 years, will become Chair Emeritus. Photo by Juan Posada. New ArtCenter Trustee Michelle Gadsden-Williams has worked tirelessly at refining processes, policies and programs that support an inclusive work environment. New ArtCenter Trustee Ivy Ross who was ranked among Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business last year, is the vice president of hardware design at Google. Photo courtesy of Google.
Job Titles:
- Director, Media Relations
- Media Contacts
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
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- Member of the Board of Trustees
- Founder and Chairman, Idealab
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology and of ArtCenter College of Design
Amazed by the inventions of Thomas Edison and Leonardo da Vinci, Bill Gross grew up dreaming of being an inventor. He started his first company-Solar Devices-in high school during the energy crisis of 1973 with a dream of making solar energy practical on a small scale. He sold kits and plans for solar energy products mail order in the back of Popular Science and Scientific American magazines. He sold more than 10,000 copies of plans, helping him pay his way through college at the California Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1981.
While at Caltech, Bill invented and patented a new high-performance loudspeaker design and started a company to manufacture those speakers called GNP Loudspeakers (Gross National Products). Those speakers went on to become a model for many other high-end audiophile products.
After Caltech, Bill and his brother created HAL, the natural language interface for the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, which was at the time the leading software in the world. Bill's company was acquired by Lotus, and while there he created many software products, including the award-winning Magellan for finding and searching personal information.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees