Born in 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rosanne Somerson is a furniture designer and the president of the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island. Somerson was appointed to her current position in 2015, after a nearly 40-year association with the school; she received her BFA from RISD in 1976, and she began teaching there in 1985 -– eventually co-founding the school’s furniture design department. Recognized as a thought leader and advocate within her field, Somerson has been engaged as a speaker at institutions around the world, and she has contributed to a number of scholarly publications. Despite her administrative responsibilities, Somerson continues to maintain a studio practice, through which she explores the interpersonal and historical narratives embedded in furniture. Her work has been exhibited widely and brought her recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts (1984 and 1988) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Furniture Society in 2013. Somerson was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2009.