Matthew S. Gaynor named art department head
The College of Arts & Sciences at Kansas State University has named Matthew Small Gaynor as the new head of the art department following a nation-wide search. He will begin his official appointment in July.
“We are very pleased to have someone with professor Gaynor’s diverse background of experiences as our next department head for art,” said Peter Dorhout, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “Matthew understands the academic and private sector environments and has a wealth of administrative experiences that he will bring to K-State.”
Gaynor received his MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University prior to beginning his teaching career at the University of Kansas. He later accepted teaching positions at California State University at San Bernardino followed by the University of Cincinnati, where he was promoted to associate professor. In 1999, he took a hiatus from teaching and served as creative director for F+W Publications before returning to academia at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). At UIC, Gaynor taught at all levels of the curriculum, as well as developing courses in introductory graphic design and photography for designers.
Gaynor’s leadership portfolio includes having served as interim director of the UIC School of Art and Design and served for five years as associate dean for faculty affairs for the College of Architecture and the Arts at UIC. In this role he was a part of campus committees that shaped the three most recent major campus policies initiatives on diversity, assessment and mentoring at UIC. Over the course of his career, Gaynor has won many awards for his design work, which is focused on the intersection of type and image, and continues his practice of typographic design, as well as new modes of photographic portraiture.
Gaynor is replacing Gerry Craig, who is now an Associate Dean in the K-State Graduate School.
