Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, will conclude his deanship effective June 30, 2026, Chancellor Andrew D. Martin announced. Colangelo will continue to serve as WashU’s E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts. He will return to teaching, after a yearlong sabbatical, in fall 2027.
“Carmon Colangelo has been an exceptional leader for the Sam Fox School,” Martin said. “As inaugural dean, he was able to bring together three longstanding WashU academic units, each with proud individual histories, and forge them into something new. Enrollment, degree programs and physical facilities have all grown significantly during his watch. I’m grateful that WashU will continue to benefit from his considerable talent, and I wish him much continued success and fulfillment.”
Formed in 2006, the Sam Fox School united WashU’s School of Art and School of Architecture, founded in 1879 and 1910 respectively, with the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, founded in 1881 and the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River. When Colangelo steps down in 2026, he will have led the combined school for exactly two decades.
“It has been the honor of my life to lead the Sam Fox School,” Colangelo said. “It’s an opportunity I could have never imagined when I began my academic career. We have accomplished so much together, and I am immensely proud of our progress. This feels like the right time to pass the baton.”
Years of growth
A nationally known artist and printmaker, Colangelo earned a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in printmaking and painting from the University of Windsor in 1981 and a master’s in fine arts in printmaking from Louisiana State University in 1983. Before arriving at WashU, he led the printmaking department at West Virginia University (1984-1996), chaired WVU’s Division of Art (1993-96), and directed the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia (1997-2006).
During Colangelo’s deanship, the Sam Fox School raised millions of dollars for endowed scholarships, professorships, research initiatives, new facilities, and museum programs and collections. The school launched new academic programs, including the Master of Landscape Architecture, the Master of Fine Arts in Illustration and Visual Culture, the Master of Design for Human-Computer Interaction and Emerging Technology, and the undergraduate minor in human-computer interaction.
Colangelo also led creation of the Art on Campus program, which features permanent installations by nationally and internationally known artists, and established the Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, which fosters community connections through coursework, special projects and faculty research.
Historic Bixby, Givens, and Steinberg Halls were joined by Walker Hall, by Anabeth and John Weil Hall — a state-of-the-art home for graduate programs in both art and architecture — and, at the front door to campus, by the significantly renovated Kemper Art Museum. This expansion increased the school’s total square footage for studios, classrooms, offices, fabrication labs and exhibition spaces by more than half. Now comprising six buildings, this growth has allowed programs previously housed in satellite facilities in University City to return to WashU’s Danforth Campus for the first time in decades, strengthening the school’s commitment to interdisciplinary practices.
“I have had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Carmon Colangelo as both a colleague and a friend for nearly 20 years,” said alumna Vicki Match Suna, a member of the WashU Board of Trustees and chair of the Sam Fox School National Council. “Carmon’s tenure as dean of the Sam Fox School has been marked by exceptional leadership, unwavering passion and a visionary commitment to academic and artistic excellence. Under his guidance, the school has flourished as a beacon of innovation and creativity.”
A gifted artist
WashU will conduct a national search for Colangelo’s successor, under the leadership of Provost Beverly Wendland. That process will begin in March with a strategic review. The review will assist the next dean with identifying the school’s strengths, points of distinction and future priorities.
“Carmon is a gifted artist and inspirational leader who has guided the Sam Fox School since its very inception,” Wendland said. “As dean, he has increased opportunity and access while helping to recruit a generation of creative professionals. I am so grateful to Carmon for all his work on behalf of WashU and the Sam Fox School. He has a true talent for bringing out the best in people.”
Over the years, Colangelo’s work has been featured in dozens of solo shows and more than 100 group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. His work is included in the collections of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University and the Saint Louis Art Museum, among many others.
During his sabbatical — his first since 1992 — Colangelo plans to focus on his studio practice. “Afterward, I will return to the faculty to teach and continue advancing the mission and goals of the school under new leadership,” he said. “We still have much to accomplish together.”
