An accomplished scholar, she has held several leadership positions during her tenure at Rochester.
Joan Saab, the Susan B. Anthony Professor of Art History and interim dean of faculty in Arts, Sciences & Engineering (AS&E) at the University of Rochester, has been named executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Richmond, effective July 1.
Since joining Rochester in 1999, Saab has held several leadership appointments including vice provost of academic affairs, director of the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies, and chair of the Department of Art and Art History.
“Joan’s contributions to Rochester cannot be overstated,” says David Figlio, provost and the Gordon Fyfe Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Rochester. “In addition to her accomplishments as a scholar and a leader, she has been a trusted partner and a true visionary whose work has brought meaningful and substantial improvements to the University and AS&E. I have no doubt that she will be a transformational provost for the University of Richmond, and we congratulate them for hiring such an exemplary leader. We will miss Joan and all she brings to Rochester, but we are grateful for all she has done and wish her well in this new endeavor.”
Saab, who studies and teaches American art history and visual culture, joined the Department of Art and Art History in 2005. From 2006 to 2012, she directed the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies before her appointment to chair of the art and art history department in 2012. She was appointed the Susan B. Anthony Professor in 2016 and became vice provost of academic affairs two years later.
During her time at Rochester, Saab has served on the executive committee of the University’s Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies. She also served as curriculum director for the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and was on the executive board of the Memorial Art Gallery.
“I have absolutely loved working with Rochester’s outstanding students, faculty, and staff over the last two decades,” says Saab. “I am so grateful for all the experiences I’ve had during my tenure here, helping to build bridges between and among academic and administrative units, and furthering scholarship in the arts and humanities. I hope to build upon all that I have learned at Rochester in my new role as provost.”
Saab’s research interests span 20th-century American cultural history, urban and community studies, cultural studies, and aesthetic categories and values. She has authored several publications, including For the Millions: American Art and Culture Between the Wars (the inaugural volume in the Arts and Intellectual Life in Modern America series), Objects of Vision: Making Sense of What We See, and A Concise Companion to Visual Culture. She is also author of Searching for Siqueiros, written on the digital publishing platform Scalar, and is currently completing a manuscript tentatively titled, Tales from the Crypt: Vincent Price and American Visual Culture.
The recipient of numerous teaching, research, and grant awards, Saab’s accomplishments include funding from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Getty Research Center at UCLA, and the University of Rochester Provost’s Research Grant. She is a sought-after scholar and presenter for invited talks, symposia, and conferences.
Saab holds a bachelor’s degree in English and art history from Tufts University, a master’s degree in American studies with a concentration in material culture and museum studies from George Washington University, and a PhD in American studies from New York University.
Plans for Saab’s portfolio of responsibilities in AS&E will be shared in the near future.
