Scheri Fultineer will become the next dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, beginning on Jan. 1, 2023.James Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Caroline Genco, provost and senior vice president ad interim, announced the decision in an email sent to the Tufts community on Sept. 1.
Fultineer is a professor of landscape architecture who previously served as the dean of the Division of Architecture and Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Additionally, she was a founding principle of a multidisciplinary architecture firm, Reisen Design Associates.
“Dean Fultineer brings with her diverse experience, not only as a professor and higher education leader, but also as an accomplished landscape architect and artist,” Genco and Glaser wrote in the announcement email. “In addition, her interest in and commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and research-based practice will make her an ideal leader for this next chapter of SMFA at Tufts.”
Fultineer received a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she then taught for over a decade. She also holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Arts from Antioch College.
Fultineer’s prior work examines sustainability, ecology and their relationship to human life. Her art and research consider how cultural practices, such as burial structures, interact with the landscapes used to place the dead. Additionally, she has taught classes on the future of dams, issues in coastal parks and shellfish habitats.
The national search to appoint a new dean followed the unexpected passing of artist and educator Margaret Vendryes last March, who was expected to become the dean of SMFA in June.
Nate Harrison, SMFA dean ad interim, will continue to lead in his position until Fultineer joins the school in the new year.
