Our school colors may be orange and brown, but RIT is arguably one of the most colorful universities in the world.

RIT will offer a new doctoral degree in color science this fall, the only one of its kind in the nation. The program is an extension of the existing graduate program in color science offered by the Munsell Color Science Laboratory in RIT’s Chester F. Carlson Center for
Imaging Science. It is designed for students with undergraduate majors in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, engineering, experimental psychology, imaging, as well as textiles, graphic arts, animation, material science and polymer science.

Students will learn how to address problems in the measurement, production, formulation, reproduction and perception of color. RIT master’s degree graduates often go into careers as optical engineers, R&D engineers and imaging scientists. Recent employers include Eastman Kodak Co., GDE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Polaroid, and Xerox.

Color science joins three other programs at the doctorate level at RIT: imaging science (1988), microsystems (2002), and (2005). And two more are in the works: Astrophysics is under RIT internal review, while sustainability is currently in the design stage.

For more on the color science Ph.D., check out the Feb. 8 edition of .

So does this mean RIT is on its way to being an extensive research university? Not quite.

says our Ph.D. programs must be “world class,” meaning they are able to compete with and lead work being done in these disciplines at the best universities. RIT takes the best of research universities at the national level and melds this with the best of RIT’s tradition of commitment to teaching, students and community partnerships.

We have to be careful, according to President Simone, that our undergraduate programs are not denigrated (reduced dollar resources, large class sizes, extensive use of teaching assistants and adjuncts) to support Ph.D. programs. That said, President Simone firmly believes research and scholarship conducted by the faculty is a must for the undergraduate experience at RIT.

For more on RIT’s future, be sure to check out our , RIT’s roadmap through 2015. It certainly looks rosy.