: Spring 2024 commencement speaker Gail Anderson laughing with A&A Dean B. Stephen Carpenter II.

A&A Dean

Office of the Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture

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Welcome
Office Overview
Contact the Dean
Leadership Perspectives Video
Notes from the Dean
A&A Dean's Circle
Movers Shakers...

The College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State

Welcome to A&A

Our diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and administrators is dedicated to the success of our programs and the college as a whole.

As dean, I am committed to supporting the myriad ways creativity and innovation manifest in visual, performing, design, and scholarly pursuits. Our college creates knowledge and reinvents existing modes of meaning-making across a wide range of disciplines.

My vision for the college rests on three key priorities: supporting student success, cultivating a culture of critical creativity, and increasing our influence and visibility. We strive to be an epicenter of artistic and design innovation, research, creative activity, and cultural production.

In the College of Arts and Architecture, we create and reinvent artistic, research, design, and performance possibilities. Simply put, #WeCreate.

I invite you to explore our departments, schools, programs, and initiatives. Join us in our mission to push the boundaries of creativity and scholarship.

Script writing that reads B Stephen Carpenter

B Stephen Carpenter II
Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture
The Pennsylvania State University

Overview of the Office of the Dean

The Office of the Dean provides leadership for the college and all its operations through the administration of financial services, facilities, and human resources.

A primary goal of the office is to provide support to students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends in order to advance the college’s teaching, research and creative activity, and service missions. The office oversees the implementation of college and university policies and procedures, and takes step towards supporting the college’s efforts in reaching its strategic planning goals.

A&A 2026–2030 Strategic Plan

Contact Dean Carpenter

So as a kid growing up with my brothers, we realized that anything we wanted, anything we could imagine, we could probably make. We'd use old copper pipes or molding for baseboards — any items that my dad was saving for home repairs that would allow us to make those visions or those ideas a reality. My parents really encouraged us to think, to ask critical questions, and then to make other possibilities out of what was given to us.

My undergraduate ceramics professor showed me that you could take clay and sawdust and create vessels that would render water with waterborne disease potable. Seeing what is available and making something different out of it, it can quite literally change the direction of people's lives. Here at Penn State, our faculty are encouraging students to look into the world, to recognize structures and systems and practices and question them in positive ways — through their work as designers, architects, historians, teachers, musicians, actors, writers — and transfer that knowledge out into other realms. Regardless of the medium, if they can imagine a solution, if they can imagine a response to a social issue, they can realize it.

Clay just became a natural material for me to use.If you don't like what you have, you can kind of mold it back together and form a new object. If we give ourselves a set of parameters, we're already confined. But if we allow ourselves to even question the initial notion of those parameters, other possibilities open up. That is what we do in our college. We see the world as it is and imagine it in other ways — and then use our disciplinary practices to make those other ways a reality.

I'm Steve Carpenter, and I empower people to question answers and assumptions in order to make possibilities possible.

Notes from the Dean

Archived Dean's Messages

June 17, 2026

On May 9, we welcomed more than 200 students into the College of Arts and Architecture alumni ranks. As they moved their tassels from right to left, they joined a thriving community of graduates who are applying their educations in arts and design to make positive differences around the world. Commencement is more than a day or set of celebratory events; it is truly one of the most rewarding days of the academic year as dean. The excitement is always palpable and this year we did not allow a little bit of rain to ruin our parade, as you can see in this gallery of photos. The umbrellas, hugs, and smiles are reminders of that special day.

Our processional from the Olsan Stone Terrace to Eisenhower Auditorium is just one of the unique aspects of our undergraduate Commencement activities. Once inside Eisenhower, we continued the tradition of having our student marshals carry banners representing their academic units. This year, we debuted new banners designed by senior graphic design students under the direction of Taylor Shipton, associate professor of graphic design. The Commencement address was delivered by School of Music alumna and orchestral conductor Fernanda Lastra.

The weeks immediately following Commencement are a moment of transition from the energy and pace of the final weeks of the semester. Now that we are well into June, things are picking up again. Penn State Centre Stage just completed a run of the new musical “Wild Child,” and will soon present “Would I Lie to You,” selected scenes from Shakespeare under the production of Firefly Rep, June 24–28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arboretum. The Palmer Museum of Art recently opened the exhibition “Dreaming American Futures: Invitational 250,” which runs through November 29, and Woskob Family Gallery is hosting a Juneteenth exhibition through August 7.

In addition, A&A alumnus Brian Kappel is the featured artist for Hintzpiration: Artistry at the Alumni Center. Check out his work July 10–11 if you are in town for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Hintzpiration is a collaboration between the Alumni Association and our college.

As incoming students start to visit campus for New Student Orientation, I join in excitement and anticipation as they embark on their Penn State careers. We will also welcome some new faculty members in the fall. In future issues you will read about our new faculty members, as well as new administrators and staff.

Thank you, as always, for your support. I hope to see you around campus soon.

B Stephen Carpenter II
Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture
The Pennsylvania State University

Visionary Leaders Creating Success

A&A Dean’s Circle

Mission: To provide the dean with critical feedback and visionary perspective on the current state and future success of the College of Arts and Architecture.

Dean’s Circle Members

Mary Lou Belli

Television director, author, alumna

Emmet Cohen

Pianist, composer

Kim Cosier

Art education scholar, activist, retired professor

John Hoke III

Architect, designer, chief innovation officer, alumnus

Brian Kappel

Graphic designer, entrepreneur, alumnus

Terry Kidd

Higher education administrator, technology scholar

Michael McIntyre

Chief executive officer, creative marketing leader, alumnus

Nicole Robinson

Higher education administrator, music education and diversity scholar

Mark Shulman

Live event producer, alumnus

Jerilea Zempel

Artist, activist, retired university artist-in-residence

two capital letter "A"s connected by an ampersand

Conversations with Notable A&A Alumni

Movers Shakers Designers Makers

In the “Movers Shakers Designers Makers” video series, Dean Carpenter takes the opportunity to talk with A&A alumni about professions, practice and Penn State. From gorillas and activism to pedagogy and Peachy Paterno, the topics are timely and free-ranging – laugh, learn and enjoy.

Watch the Movers Shakers Designers Makers Playlist on YouTube