February 1, 2007

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE NEW SCHOOL COMMUNITY
RE: THE APPOINTMENT OF TIM GUNN AS CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, LIZ CLAIBORNE, INC.

We write to let you know that Tim Gunn, Chair of Fashion Design at Parsons, has accepted an extraordinary professional opportunity in the fashion industry.  Effective March 5, he will become Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Inc.

We are very proud of Tim, and we share his excitement about this major new position. Liz Claiborne is one of the leading fashion design and retail companies in America. As Chief Creative Officer, Tim will mentor the 350 designers working with the company's 40+ brands.

We are also very pleased to announce that Tim will not sever his ties to Parsons The New School for Design as a consequence of assuming this new role. Tim has played a critical role at Parsons for more than twenty years. He has assured us personally that he is deeply committed to continuing his affiliation with the university, especially through the spring semester and this period of transition.  In the longer term, we are very optimistic that Tim's new position with Liz Claiborne will serve to strengthen the ties that the Fashion Design department already has with the fashion industry.

We celebrate this new professional opportunity for Tim and applaud his extraordinary service to Parsons.  Since becoming chair of the Fashion Design department in 2000, Tim has elevated the rigor and the public profile of the program, reshaping the curriculum to tap new synergies among the program, the industry, and the aspirations and potential of our students. He has also led the department during a time of rapid growth.  As Parsons' largest undergraduate program, Fashion Design currently serves more than 500 students.

Tim has also attracted an unprecedented level of public and media attention to the department and to Parsons The New School for Design, chiefly through Project Runway. What began in 2004 as a "small part," stewarding the pilot of this reality-based cable television program, ballooned into a premier role in one of the most successful programs in cable television history.

Project Runway has garnered enormous praise and admiration for Tim, while greatly enhancing the public's awareness of Parsons The New School for Design. Tim's accomplishments as chair of the Fashion Design program are the most recent chapter in his long and distinguished career at the school. He has dedicated nearly half his life to the School, beginning in 1983, when he was hired as Assistant Director of Admissions. By 1986 he was Director of Admissions, and in 1990, he was appointed Associate Dean. For the next ten years he worked closely with the academic departments and contributed considerably in the area of international relations, including the development of our affiliates in Japan, South Korea, and our former affiliate in Malaysia.

We are delighted that this new chapter in Tim’s professional life does not represent an end to his association with Parsons. He will continue to be a close advisor, a mentor for our students, and one of our greatest ambassadors and supporters.

With Tim's assistance and support, we will work quickly and closely with the faculty and staff in Fashion Design and the leadership in the Parsons Dean’s Office to ensure continued momentum and the highest commitment to our students through the spring of 2007 and beyond.  We will formalize the interim leadership and announce plans for a search for a new chair very shortly.

In the meantime, please join me in thanking Tim for his contributions to Parsons, while extending congratulations to him on his new position.

Tim Marshall
Dean, Parsons The New School for Design

Bob Kerrey
President, The New School