New School Appoints Academic Leadership For Liberal Arts, Classical Music

The New School today announced the appointment of Stephanie Browner as dean of Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts; Richard Kessler as dean of Mannes College The New School for Music; and Pippin Parker, director of The New School for Drama. The New School is comprised of seven distinct schools focusing on social sciences, liberal arts, administration and management, design and performing arts.

"The New School's diverse elements are united by a common goal of positively changing society," said President David Van Zandt. "Provost Tim Marshall and I are confident that Stephanie Browner, Richard Kessler, and Pippin Parker reflect the vision, leadership, and commitment to social progress that have distinguished The New School for nearly a century."

Browner, Kessler and Parker were selected from a field of national candidates in a process led by Provost Marshall, with participation from students, faculty and staff.

As Dean of Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, Stephanie Browner will lead the 1,500 students of New York's youngest and fastest-growing urban liberal arts college. Browner comes to The New School from Berea College in Kentucky, nationally acclaimed for providing tuition-free liberal arts education to low-income students. As Berea's chief academic officer, Browner oversaw all academic programs and centers as well as such offices as admissions and financial aid, secured more than two million in grants for academic innovation, and recently led a campus-wide scenario planning process to ensure the college's continued excellence and economic viability in a dramatically changed worlD. Browner's research in nineteenth-century American and African-American literature, the history of American medicine, digital humanities and postcolonial literature is widely published. She earned an AB in English and Spanish from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in American Literature and AmericanStudies from Indiana University, Bloomington.

As Dean of Mannes College The New School for Music, Richard Kessler will provide artistic and administrative leadership for one of the nation's leading music conservatories. Most recently, Kessler has served as executive director of The Center for Arts Education, an organization that works to improve arts and culture learning in New York City public schools. At the Center for Arts Education, Kessler led a major expansion and secured multi-million dollar grants from the US Department of Education and The Annenberg Foundation. Prior to this, Kessler served as executive director of the American Music Center. Kessler is also a classically trained musician, having studied at Mannes College and earned a BA and MA in Music from The Juilliard School.

Pippin Parker brings three decades of professional and academic theater experience to his new position as director of The New School for DramA. Parker first joined The New School for Drama in 2004 as an instructor in Playwriting, eventually becoming chair of the Playwriting Department, a role he has held since 2006. As chair, Parker launched programs such as school's Artist-in-Residence series, which has welcomed John Turturro, John Patrick Shanley and others to New School classrooms, and also the New Voices MFA Thesis Festival. Before joining The New School, Parker served as artistic director of the renowned dramatic group Naked Angels, of which he was a founding member. Parker studied at Columbia University.

About The New School
The New School, based in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village, is a legendary, progressive university inspiring undergraduates, graduate students and others to catalyze change in an inconstant world. Founded in 1919 as a hub of intellectual freedom by a group that included Charles Beard, John Dewey, and Thorstein Veblen, The New School today is a major degree-granting university comprised of distinct academic divisions. The university's 10,500 students are enrolled in 88 degree programs in the humanities and social sciences, design, administration and management, and the performing arts. In addition, the university's campus welcomes 3,544 adult learners in more than 650 continuing education courses every year. The New School holds hundreds of public programs that exemplify its commitment to democratic practice and social justice. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu.