Troy, N.Y. — Michael Century, a former teacher at McGill University and art-and-technology consultant from Canada, has been named chair of the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Century previously directed the Inter-Arts and the Media Arts programs at the Banff Centre for Continuing Education. The Centre is Canada's only learning center for accomplished artists, and business and community leaders. In 1987, Century founded the Media Arts Program, one of the first to focus on the artistic potential of interactive computer technologies.

Century is internationally known for his expertise in art and technology. He has taught at McGill University and has contributed in the field as an educational administrator, lecturer, writer, musical performer and composer, and software researcher. He has lectured and consulted at universities, conferences, and symposia in North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, and India.

Through his consulting firm, Next Century Consultants, Century has served as a consultant to notable establishments, such as the Rockefeller Center in New York City and Eyebeam Atelier, a new media art museum and production lab also in New York. He also has assisted in the design of Rensselaer's experimental media and performing arts center (EMPAC).

Born in the United States in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in Canada, Century holds dual citizenship. He earned his B.A. from the University of Toronto and an M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, both in music history and theory. He is completing his Ph.D. in science and technology policy studies at the University of Sussex in the U.K.

From 1993 to 1996, Century worked as a program manager for the Canadian Centre for Information Technology Innovation, a federal research laboratory in Montreal. In 1996-1998, he was a policy adviser in the Canadian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, dealing with art and technology files.

As chair of the Arts Department, Century's responsibilities will include further expanding and integrating technology and the arts in the growing curriculum of electronic arts at Rensselaer. Century will work closely with Johannes Goebel, the newly appointed director of EMPAC. The arts center, in its design stages, is expected to be completed in 2006.

Contact: Jodi Ackerman
Phone: (518) 276-6531
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