Dear College of Fine Arts Community,

I write to share the news that Kate Canales has let me know that she will be stepping down as chair of the Department of Design at the end of this academic year. She’ll retain her faculty position in the department as a professor of practice and continue to contribute her energies to the success of the unit. I know she’s excited to refocus her efforts on teaching and other creative projects.

We will be convening a search this year to fill the department chair role, and we expect to have a new hire in place by fall 2024.

I’m grateful to Kate for her steady leadership of the department during her tenure as chair. She joined the department in summer 2018, following the creation of the Department of Design. She’s overseen a period of tremendous growth in the department, as the undergraduate program’s enrollment increased dramatically and as many new faculty and staff members were hired to support this growth. The Design program is now nationally ranked among its peers.

Under her leadership, the department launched the M.A. in Design focused on Health, in partnership with the Dell Medical School, and she worked with faculty and campus partners to revamp the M.F.A. in Design and incorporated the Center for Integrated Design into the department. All of these programs are flourishing.

She also oversaw the creation of a new freshman curriculum for designers and spearheaded a change to admissions requirements for incoming first-year students. The department eliminated the portfolio requirement and replaced it with a more open creative prompt to make admissions more accessible to students who went to a high school without design coursework. This change had a measurable impact on the applicant pool to the program with an increase in applicants from first-generation students and from a broader range of socioeconomic backgrounds.

Kate also worked closely with UT Planning and Construction on the design process for the renovation of the north wing of Anna Hiss Gymnasium, which now houses studio classrooms, meeting spaces and shared faculty offices for the Department of Design.

Please join me in thanking Kate for her leadership and service. We wish her all the best as she transitions to this next chapter in her professional journey.

Sincerely,