Nine months since Larry Thompson announced he would retire after 27 years as a transformative president of Ringling College of Art and Design, the school announced his successor, a longtime writer, educator and administrator at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

At a Jan. 23 news conference attended by Ringling College trustees, supporters, some faculty and students, Board of Trustees Vice Chair Ali Bahaj, who led the search committee, announced the appointment of Davis Schneiderman, who will take over on June 1.

Schneiderman, who has worked at Lake Forest College since 2021, will become Ringling College’s seventh president. He is a novelist and author or editor of 10 books, a performer, teacher and administrator. He chaired the Lake Forest English Department and later served as Dean of Faculty and Provost.

He most recently served as the Founding Executive Director of the Krebs Center for the Humanities at the school, overseeing a museum collection, symposia and artist residencies with international artists. He also is actively involved in the study and applications of of artificial intelligence.

Bahaj said his committee led an “exhaustive, international search that attracted an exceptional group of candidates.” The process included numerous listening sessions with stakeholders and multiple rounds of interviews.

“We are confident our new president has the leadership skills, strategic insight and creative vision to guide Ringling College forward into its next chapter while embracing our entire community.”

Bahaj said Schneiderman demonstrated several “key characteristics that define visionary leadership – a high intellect, the ability to carefully listen and ask thoughtful questions and pursue and implement key changes.”

Schneiderman said he is “honored to lead Ringling College, which has a “reputation that extends far beyond Sarasota” built on its industry connections, Town Hall lecture series, “academic programs that align with industry demands and workforce needs, artificial intelligence, unrivaled career outcomes and putting students at the front of every decision.”

He said his work has focused on humanities, ethics and creativity and the impact of artificial intelligence. “Makers, dreamers and artists have an opportunity and responsibility to not only consider what AI means to their work, but what it will mean to their work. Ringling, with its human-centered approach is already at the table,” he said.

Schneiderman added, “I still have a lot to learn and big shoes to fill. Larry’s reputation preceded our first meeting.”

Board Chair Joel Morganroth noted that when he was chosen nearly three decades ago, Thompson was “sort of an outlier. He was an attorney by training and he had a job as head of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That choice then was like winning the lottery.”

During Thompson’s tenure, the institution shifted from Ringling School to Ringling College. He has expanded the budget from $15 million to $150 million, built the endowment from $4 million to $80 million, added seven new majors and expanded the campus with new buildings. He also played a vital role in turning the historic Sarasota High School into the Sarasota Art Museum, which is part of the school’s operations.

Thompson said the transition is a “meaningful and deeply personal moment for me. For me, Ringling College is not just a place of education, it’s a place of imagination and experimentation, where determination and courage are needed daily and where boundless creativity thrives.”

He told Schneiderman that he is “inheriting a college with a great legacy but one that is constantly looking to the future.”