Transforming the Landscape: Fifty Years on the New RIT Campus

The bold 1961 decision to move Rochester Institute of Technology from a disjointed, small urban campus to sprawling suburban farmland, paved the way for the university’s expansive growth and global recognition: enrollment increased and new colleges and degree programs were established. Transforming the Landscape: Fifty Years on the New RIT Campus details the planning and construction of the modern campus coupled with an extensive photographic survey of its innovative architecture. Sarah Thompson’s essay offers insights to the planning of the new campus and the commitment to modernist architecture as representative of the institution’s future. More recent buildings to the campus are discussed in the context of the original 1968 plan. The profuse historical and contemporary photographs create a visual tour that documents the evolution and development of the modern campus into the 21st century.

Becky Simmons (editor) is a co-author of Jeanette Klute: A Photographic Pioneer (2017), a contributing author of Frans Wildenhain, 1950 –1975 (2012), co-author of Past Meets Present: Recovering the History of Women at Rochester Institute of Technology, 1885–1945 (2009) and has authored entries related to amateur photography and photography journals for the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography (2008). Becky manages the official records of the university as well as historical collections at RIT, including the RIT Archives, RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive, and the RIT Art Collection. She shares her knowledge with students through an Introduction to Archival Studies class taught through the Museum Studies program at RIT.