Christye Sisson, Gannett Endowed Chair, School Director, Professor, School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

Since 1997 - 29 years this coming fall!

I’m currently serving as School Director for the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences and am faculty in the Photographic Sciences program. My role as School Director is to support the students, faculty and staff in the school through resources, administration, and represent the school’s needs to the college and university. I work in collaboration with the faculty to ensure we are collectively providing the best education we can to our students, while I also support and mentor faculty through tenure and promotion processes. I also act as a facilitator and ambassador on behalf of the school both internally and externally, and work with industry, alumni and employers to ensure we are supporting and preparing our students for future success.

Being an educator is a tremendous privilege. It is a surprise to me, even at almost 30 years, that I get to be in this position. While in my current role, I don’t teach as much, I never lose sight of the fact that educators hold tremendous opportunity to make a positive impact. The opposite can also be true, so I take that potential very seriously.  My north star is feeling as though I can be of service – to the school, faculty and most importantly, the students.

I never set out to be an academic. After graduating from RIT's BS Biomedical Photographic Communications program (now BS in Photographic Sciences), I became an ophthalmic photographer working in clinical and research environments, and later returned to RIT as faculty, developing unique undergraduate curriculum and earning two patents in ophthalmic imaging.

My time at RIT has included developing and teaching the ophthalmic imaging curriculum for the last 29 years, and running the Ophthalmic Imaging Lab. This is the only curriculum in this topic available on the undergraduate level, and the courses count one year toward the two-year residency requirements for the Ophthalmic Photographer’s Society’s certifications, which include the Certified Retinal Angiographer (CRA) and Optical Coherence Tomography Certified (OCT-C). My two patents for ophthalmic imaging are related to retinal image quality, and I wrote a textbook that’s now used as the standard reference and resource for the OPS certification exams nationally and internationally.

I was Program Director for the Photographic Sciences for 11 years, during which we secured the largest award for CAD at the time, working with the Department of Defense on their image/video manipulation detection project (Project MediFor/Medisphere). I was elected as School Director in 2021, and I’m now in my second term/fifth year.

That I care – about their education, their future career and about their well-being. I am doing a disservice if I fall short on any of these – on ensuring content is relevant and up to date, that I’m explaining it clearly, or if I’m not tuned in. That said, I do expect to be met halfway; any working relationship works both ways and relies on communication and mutual respect. I try to model that relationship with all students, and I have found the dividends in lifelong relationships with alumni, which is incredibly rewarding.

We sometimes take it for granted that we are standing on the shoulders of those who came before. I was the only woman in my department when I first joined the faculty at RIT, with faculty who were my former professors. I was able to identify women in other departments to help model my career after, and to help me learn how to navigate challenges. I’m still learning! This is why it’s so important to celebrate and elevate women’s achievements; history is still filling in the blanks of women’s contributions, and I’m thrilled when women’s stories are recognized. It’s exactly those stories that remind us of the shoulders we’re standing on, and what they sacrificed to make it possible, including my career.

Mentorship and community with women in other departments taught me resilience and adaptability, which I strive to pass on and model for my students and colleagues. I also try to pass on the importance of strength in community, and leaving places better than we found them, which is of particular importance for women.

My mother is highly educated and was a working professional for most of my life, at a time where it was still somewhat unusual for women who were also mothers to be professionally accomplished. I appreciate now how big of an impact that had, because it was an understood, normal thing to me that women belong in areas of high achievement. It didn’t occur to me until much later how big of a challenge that must have been for her, and I’m grateful for her modeling what was possible despite those challenges.

I have a major sweet tooth. Lately, I’ve been into gummy candy, but very specific ones – either Sour Patch watermelon or Nerd Gummy Clusters. I love baked goods but have food allergies and am often too lazy to make it myself.

An early 80’s Chevrolet Cavalierstation wagon – it had dark vinyl seats and no air conditioning and would overheat constantly!

There were many more darkrooms back then, and I spent A LOT of time there as a photo student. It was wonderful to be in a space where I could really focus and enjoy the process, even though it took a lot of time to get it just right.

We have so many lovely spots on campus now– I love the courtyard in Global Village when it’s warm. I also recently rediscovered the walking/nature trails, including the ones between the academic side and residence halls.

I’d love to travel with my husband and family overseas. 

I have a rescue pit bull mix named Maggie; she is sweet and very funny, and scared of everything, including inanimate objects like paper bags. When she’s mad or feeling neglected, she brings our shoes into the dining room. We can tell how unhappy she is by how many of our shoes end up there on a given day!

Hidden Brain and Short Wave (NPR) – I love science podcasts. My taste in movies is pretty escapist – I like action and absurd comedy that I tend to rewatch.

I grew up overseas and have wanted to get back to some of the places I lived, like Thailand and Greece. I want to take my family to where I grew up!

Probably that I’ve rewatched some movies so many times I can recite them line by line. Or that I didn’t grow up in the US.

rit.edu/aes

2 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14623  

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