Bonnie Pitman, former director of the Dallas Museum of Art, has joined the faculty of UTD as Distinguished Scholar in Residence, where she is expected to use her new media savvy to up the reputation of the School of Arts and Humanities. “UT Dallas aspires to be at the forefront of higher education, and a transformative leader such as Ms. Pitman is the ideal person to help the University achieve that goal,” said Dean Dennis Kratz.
UTD is collecting ex-DMA directors: Rick Brettell is currently their Margaret McDermott Distinguished Chair of Art and Aesthetics. He and Pitman are scheduled to teach a graduate course titled “The Civic Art Museum” this fall which uses the DMA as a well-documented case study in the historical role of city art museums as agents of cultural bonding “which held American cities together before the great age of professional sports and mass media in which we now live.”