Tri-C Announces Two New Leadership Roles for School of Creative Arts
Gabriel Swarts and Karen Laurence join College as dean and associate dean
CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) announced the hires of two academic leaders in its School of Creative Arts — both of whom will ensure the College's strong impact and contributions to the region's entertainment, arts and culture.
Gabriel (Gabe) Swarts, Ph.D., joined Tri-C as the dean of the School of Creative Arts on Jan. 20, and Karen Laurence, Ph.D., joined the College as the associate dean beginning Feb. 3.
In the summer of 2024, Tri-C created a new infrastructure for academic affairs at the institution. The College transitioned to a new, student-centric structure that aligns credit and noncredit programs into five academic schools, including the School of Creative Arts.
"We're excited that Dr. Swarts and Dr. Laurence will bring their expertise and leadership to Tri-C to help ensure Creative Arts students have meaningful experiences and are supported along their educational journey," said Karen Miller, Ph.D., the provost and executive vice president of Access, Learning and Success at Tri-C.
After teaching in public schools in Northeast Ohio for almost a decade and serving appointments at universities in Wyoming, New York and Ohio, Swarts recently served as the dean of the School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (HESS) at Baldwin Wallace University. He led multiple departments, such as communication arts and sciences (media studies, film and audio production), the arts (visual communication and design) and, until recently, musical theater.
A Northeast Ohio resident, Swarts earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University in 2017. His research is classroom-based and focused on improving pedagogy in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning in education, privacy and data ethics, global citizenship education, teacher education and photography.
Laurence is an accomplished higher education professional with over a decade of experience in teaching, faculty engagement and educational program management. She was previously the director of educational programs and faculty and alumni engagement at Case Western Reserve University, where she led a variety of initiatives and worked across departments to develop strategic partnerships and design educational resources for a broad audience.
Laurence's background also includes key roles at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where she managed membership programs and donor engagement strategies. She has also taught at institutions such as the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana), Oberlin College and the University of Akron.
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in Ancient Greek from the University of Georgia and a B.A. in Classical Civilizations from Ohio University.
Learn more about the School of Creative Arts on the Tri-C website.
February 04, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Anthony Moujaes, 216-987-3068 or anthony.moujaes@tri-c.edu