45 Years of Service: Rhonda Root

With deep gratitude, we honor Rhonda Root, MFA, for 45 years of faithful and distinguished service to Andrews University. For more than four decades, she has embodied the rare integration of artist, scholar, teacher and mentor as an exhibiting fine artist and professor of fine art, art history and architectural history.

 

Rhonda’s teaching is shaped by a lifetime of scholarship and extensive research travel throughout the United States, Europe and the Near East. She has brought art and architectural history to life for generations of students, grounding learning in place, culture and lived experience. Her scholarly and creative contributions encompass over 30 research grants, more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, over 20 professional conference presentations and over 30 national and international fine art exhibitions, including codirecting the 2009 NEH Summer Institute for Teachers.

 

In addition to her impressive record, Rhonda is deeply admired for going above and beyond—meeting with students outside of work hours, remaining present in the classroom even when her health was fragile and offering generous professional and personal support to colleagues. Through leadership as assistant dean for curriculum, director of general studies, academic advisor for architecture and interior design, and former department chair, her legacy is one of perseverance, compassion and lasting impact.