subgroup SC.FITA.2 - Office of the President records

Identity area

Reference code

US NNFIT SC.FITA.2

Title

Office of the President records

Date(s)

  • 1944 (Creation)

Level of description

subgroup

Extent and medium

tbd

Context area

Name of creator

(1944-)

Administrative history

The Fashion Institute of Technology was the brainchild of the educator Mortimer C. Ritter and the menswear manufacturer Max Meyer. The school opened in 1944 on the top two floors of the High School of Needle Trades. By 1951, there was enough support for the institute as well as students enrolled to warrant a degree program at FIT. That year, the school was granted the right to award an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree. FIT received accreditation in 1957 and introduced a variety of courses, including Liberal Arts. During the 1960s, the curriculum grew to include interior design, advertising, and photography as subjects taught at the school. The following decade saw the school expanding to provide Bachelor's (in 1975) and Master's (1985) degree's, after years of lobbying State University Board of Education. FIT can boast about being the first to offer unique degrees in fields taught no where else in the U.S., such as Toy Design and Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design. There are 48 degree programs in total at FIT as of October 2020.

Name of creator

(1951 (date of establishment))

Administrative history

Under the leadership of the President, the office supports all activities related to FIT's mission, while assisting in continual assessment of the efficacy and quality of its programs and administrative offices.

The President engages the college community in strategic and investment planning efforts to build faculty ranks, increase technology, expand the curriculum, and improve student services.

Reporting to the Board of Trustees, the President oversees a nine-member cabinet of senior administrators and manages divisional units of the college. The President also has an Extended Cabinet, comprised of the Cabinet plus all deans, associate and assistant deans, associate and assistant vice presidents, the director of the The Museum at FIT, and the internal auditor.

Dr. Joyce F. Brown is the current President of FIT; she has served since 1998. Her predecessors are, in reverse chronological order, Stuart Steiner (1997-1998), Alan F. Hershfield (1992-1997), Marvin Feldman (1971-1992), Shirley Goodman (1970-1971), Lawrence L. Jarvie (1966-1970), Samuel Dietsch (1965), Lawrence Bethel (1953-1965), again Samuel Dietsch (1953), Max Meyer (1952-1953), and Mortimer C. Ritter (1951-1952). Ritter also served as Director from 1944-1951.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and College Archives. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at fitlibsparc@fitnyc.edu or call (212) 217-4385.

Conditions governing reproduction

The Unit of Special Collections and College Archives does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.

Language of material

    Script of material

      Language and script notes

      Physical characteristics and technical requirements

      Finding aids

      Generated finding aid

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      The Library of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Department of Special Collections and College Archives, 27th St. at 7th Ave., NY, NY , USA, 1000

      Existence and location of copies

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      Notes area

      Alternative identifier(s)

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      Description control area

      Description identifier

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      AAT; ANSI; DACS; DCMI; ISAD(G); ISO; LoC; NISO; etc

      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Language(s)

      • English

      Script(s)

      • Latin

      Sources

      Accession area