Office of the Dean
Sondra Lomax was appointed head of External Relations and Development for the College of Fine Arts in 2004 after 20 years as a faculty member and administrator in UT’s Department of Theatre and Dance. She began her development work in the early 1990s, with an emphasis on major gifts fundraising.
Under her leadership, the College of Fine Arts has greatly expanded its development operations, successfully completed a $118 million capital campaign, and increased its overall fundraising and donor base. In 2008, the college received a $55 million gift to name the Butler School of Music, which at that time, was the largest single gift ever presented to a music school at a public university in the United States.
She holds an M.F.A. degree from York University (Toronto), wrote for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper and as a national critic for Dance Magazine for 18 years, and she served as a founding board member of the national Society of Dance History Scholars.
Before joining UT’s dance faculty, she taught at Hamilton College, the University of South Florida, and North Carolina School of the Arts. She danced professionally with ballet companies in Canada and the United States, including Montreal’s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. For over ten years, she served as an adjudicator for the Rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis in Paris, France, an international choreography competition.
Dr. Raquel Monroe is the new Associate Dean of graduate education and academic affairs in the UT College of Fine Arts. In her role, Monroe’s portfolio will focus on graduate studies and research and creative practice.
She joins the college from her most recent role at Columbia College Chicago, where she served as the co-director of diversity, equity and inclusion. In her role, she developed policies and procedures for hiring diverse faculty, created and facilitated pedagogy workshops and offered programming grants and antiracism training for faculty and staff throughout the institution.
Monroe is an interdisciplinary performance scholar, artist, administrator and mother whose research interests include Black social dance, queer black feminisms, popular culture, and the efficacy of collaboration to create social change. Monroe’s scholarship appears in journals and anthologies on race, sexuality, dance and popular culture.
Her in-process monograph Black Girl Werk: Choreographies of Liberation by Black Femme Cultural Producers employs queer Black feminist choreographic praxis to theorize performances and acts of protest by Black femmes in the public sphere, on stage and screen. Monroe realizes her passion for collaboration as a member of Propelled Animals, an interdisciplinary arts collective who create site-responsive, multimedia live performances that interrogate, challenge and ultimately attempt to dismantle the systemic "isms" of oppression. The Propelled Animals have received support from the MAP Grant Fund, National Performance Network, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation USAI Grant, the Walder Foundation, and The Studio for Creative Inquiry’s Fund for Art at the Frontier at Carnegie Mellon. She also is an award-winning pedagogue and a founding board member of the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (CADD). Monroe holds a Ph.D. in performance studies from UCLA.
Roxanne Schroeder-Arce is Associate Dean of UTeach Fine Arts and Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance and at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a Faculty Affiliate in the Center for Mexican American Studies, the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Schroeder-Arce also taught high school in Texas for several years and served as artistic director of Teatro Humanidad in Austin. Schroeder-Arce recently received the Higher Education Teacher of the Year Award from the Texas Educational Theatre Association and the Ann Flagg Multicultural Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. Most recently, she was named a fellow of the Advocacy Leadership Institute of the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture.
Schroeder-Arce is a scholar, director and playwright. She has published articles in journals such as Youth Theatre Journal, International Journal for Education & the Arts and Theatre Topics as well as chapters in books such as Latinos and American Popular Culture. Schroeder-Arce’s plays Mariachi Girl, Sangre de un Ángel, Legend of the Poinsettia and Señora Tortuga are published by Dramatic Publishing. She is currently co-authoring Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet, commissioned by Dallas Children’s Theatre. She is also writing a play in collaboration with high school students from Bowling Green, Ohio. The play, called Lily’s Wings, explores human sex trafficking among minors. Schroeder-Arce is a proud graduate of Emerson College and The University of Texas at Austin. She is also an alumna of the Keene State College Upward Bound Program.
As assistant dean for business affairs, Nisreen Singharaj's portfolio includes overseeing the college’s finances, and managing our business affairs, human resources, information technologies and facilities teams.
Nisreen joined COFA in 2023 from Curriculum & Enrollment and Undergraduate Studies (formerly the School of Undergraduate Studies and Enrollment Management), where she served as the assistant dean of business affairs. In that position, she oversaw business operations including strategic oversight of financials/accounting, HR, IT and facilities. She has worked at the university for 17 years in various positions at the Division of Recreational Sports, Jackson School of Geosciences and the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.
Nisreen is a UT alumna and is currently working towards her master’s degree in management.
John Turci-Escobar has an extraordinary teaching record and a long history of supporting students. He was the 2016 recipient of the Butler School of Music Teaching Excellence Award, and he has served as an instructor of FIG sections, taught first-year students in Signature Course seminars and participated the Butler School’s freshmen orientations. His research spans the spectrum from elite to popular cultures, “from learned madrigals created and performed in the courts of Mantua and Ferrara, to the tangos danced in the seediest venues of Buenos Aires.
Turci-Escobar is also a first-generation college student and a first-generation American. He credits his undergraduate years at a state institution—Rutgers University—for “revealing unknown worlds of possibilities.” He later went on to earn his Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. He’s taught in the Butler School of Music since 2012.
Alicia Dietrich oversees communications strategy for the College of Fine Arts. She works closely with the dean, the president’s communications office, and the college’s communications staff to share the college’s story with internal and external audiences.
Prior to joining the College of Fine Arts in 2015, she worked in communications for nine years at UT’s Harry Ransom Center and is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Austin’s Emerge program. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin, and she serves on the Terry Foundation Alumni Advisory Board and as an executive officer on the board of the nonprofit Friends of The Daily Texan.
Sonia Montoya worked for several years in the philanthropic sector where she partnered with foundation executives and nonprofit leaders to advance mission-focused work for over a decade. Most recently, she led relationships with foundation executives at The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), where she conducted quantitative and qualitative analysis to surface insights to improve their effectiveness. Prior to CEP, she partnered with nonprofit leaders in creating sustainable financial management strategies at Nonprofit Finance Fund and served as a project administrator for the International Center for the Arts of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Before transitioning to the nonprofit sector, Sonia worked as an actor in film, tv and theater.
Sonia graduated with honors from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in Literature and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was named a Public Service Fellow.
James Tolleson holds an M.Ed. in Higher Education Policy & Leadership and B.M. in Music Studies, both from The University of Texas at Austin. As an undergraduate, he proudly served as a two-time President of UT’s Fine Arts Council and a tuba player in the Longhorn Band, Wind Ensemble, and many other ensembles.
Previously, James worked for seven years as an assistant director of admissions and program coordinator in the UT Office of Admissions, during which he managed campus visit initiatives and contributed to many aspects of UT’s recruitment and admissions processes. James established successful new initiatives to recruit talented students of color, first-generation students and LGBTQIA+ students, including the University’s first recruitment event specifically for queer students. James also coordinated outreach and student programs for UT’s School of Undergraduate Studies for four years and was awarded UT’s Staff Excellence Award (2012) and the inaugural UGS Staff Excellence Award (2011).
Departments and Programs
Michael Baker has worked in the entertainment industry and higher education for 20 years. Drawing on a diverse background in architecture, fine arts, and game development, Michael teaches courses in game design and technical art. Michael is co-director of the Planet Texas 2050 Escape Room experience – a cross departmental collaboration supported by the UT Office of the Vice President for Research and debuting at South by Southwest 2020. When he’s not training for a marathon, you’ll find this abiding member of the Atari generation gaming online and hanging out with his 19-year-old son.
Michael holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Imaging and Digital Art program at the University of Maryland where he studied computer graphics and interactive systems at the Imaging Research Center.
Andrée Bober has been a curator and arts administrator since 1991. A Texas native, she studied undergraduate art history and museology at The University of Texas at Austin and painting conservation in Vienna, Austria, and she earned a Master of Arts in arts administration from Columbia University, Teacher’s College in New York. Bober has led curatorial and administrative projects for institutions that include the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and the Bard Graduate Center for the Study of Decorative Arts.
Prior to Landmarks, Bober served as deputy and interim director of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati. She led the institution through the successful completion of its Zaha Hadid-designed facility, for which the architect won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In addition to managing the administration and artistic program at the center, Bober curated several exhibitions, including Susan Unterberg: A Retrospective, for which she authored a substantial catalogue.
Bober is the founding director of Landmarks and author of The Collections: The University of Texas at Austin. She oversees all aspects of the university’s public art program while working closely with artists, consultants, and project stakeholders.
Bob joined TPA in January 2020 from the Fisher Center—a Frank Gehry-designed performing arts center on the campus of Bard College in New York—where he served as executive director. Since his appointment in 2012, the Fisher Center has earned a reputation as one of America’s most adventurous performing arts producers. His experience spans artistic genres and ranges from contemporary experimentation to rediscovering classic works, and is particularly recognized for forward-thinking collaborations and groundbreaking projects.
As executive director, Bob accomplished the rare feat of supporting extraordinary artistic success and expanding programs while engineering a fiscal turnaround. He eliminated a seven-figure annual deficit that had persisted since the organization’s founding in 2003, and achieved balanced budgets every year thereafter. Performances increased from 80 to more than 200 per year, while the yearly audience doubled in size and continues to grow.
An energetic fundraiser, Bob led the Fisher Center during the quiet phase of a $50 million campaign and doubled the membership of the Fisher Center’s Advisory Board. He worked with generous individuals and institutions to realize support for new initiatives such as a new works incubator called Live Arts Bard (LAB), residencies that bring leading artists to campus to work side-by-side with students and faculty, and a $5 student ticket fund.
Prior to his role at the Fisher Center, Bob served as producing director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. His 10-year role with the renowned choreographer culminated in the founding of New York Live Arts, an organization created through an innovative merger with Dance Theater Workshop.
Kate Canales is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Department of Design in the School of Design and Creative Technologies at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously Canales was a clinical professor and the director of Design and Innovation
Programs at the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University. She is the founder and director of SMU’s pioneering Master of Arts degree in Design and Innovation (MADI) which trains students of all backgrounds in human-centered design as a method for innovating in any field. Kate has a background in mechanical engineering, product design and design research, and much of her recent work has focused on building creative capacity inside organizations.
Prior to SMU, Kate worked as a designer and design researcher at IDEO and as a creative director at frog design, both internationally recognized leaders in the field of design and innovation.
The College of Fine Arts named choreographer, scholar and administrator Peter Carpenter as chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance in July 2023.
As an educator, Carpenter finds opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange across lines of artistry and scholarship. In his most recent leadership role as director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida's College of the Arts, he oversaw significant curriculum revisions and developed a number of producing and educational relationships, including partnerships with New York Live Arts, Pinck Productions and Saudade Theatre.
Carpenter has been active as a choreographer since 1992, and his work for theatre includes engagements with Steppenwolf Arts Exchange, The Goodman, Strawdog, and National Pastime, among others. He choreographed and co-produced the 2012 short film Fanfare for Marching Band, directed by Danièle Wilmouth and featuring music by the band Mucca Pazza, which enjoyed international screenings.
Carpenter has received robust support for new commissions. He’s also received a Joseph Jefferson Citation, a Ruth Page Award and two nominations for the Alpert Award in Dance.
Doreen Lorenzo is a successful leader of global creative firms who advised Fortune 100 companies on design and innovation issues for decades. In March 2016, she was appointed Director of the Center for Integrated Design, and now serves as Assistant Dean for the School of Design and Creative Technologies. She is a co-founder of mobile video insights firm Vidlet, as well as a board member and advisor of several other startups, and a columnist for Fast Company Co.Design and Medium. A recognized thought leader on business and design issues, she speaks publicly about her signature leadership style and the power of empathy to drive business results.
Doreen is an ardent believer in the advantages of “soft skills” like empathy and humor in business. She speaks at industry conferences, at private events, and to the media about her experience using these often-overlooked skills to understand and motivate creative people. A driven and successful woman in a male-dominated industry, Doreen also speaks about women in leadership and coaches aspiring women leaders to help them find their own paths to success.
From 2013 to 2015 Doreen was president of Quirky, where she oversaw product development and operations for this fast-growing company. Prior to Quirky she worked at frog design for 16 years, including seven years as president. While president of frog she drove company strategy, oversaw worldwide operations and delivery, and led the iconic design firm to record growth.
As a thought leader on design and innovation, Doreen is a frequent resource to various business publications. She has been featured in ABC News, Bloomberg Radio, Fast Company, Fortune, The New York Times, and many other media. She served as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies (2011-2012) and Emerging Multi Nationals (2013-2016).
Doreen earned a master’s degree in communication and media studies from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in theater from the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Professor Rather is the author of The American School: Artists and Status in the Late Colonial and Early National Era (New Haven and London: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, 2016). The book was awarded the 2018 Charles C. Eldredge Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in American Art from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New England Society Book Award for Art, and was short listed for the William MB Berger Prize for British Art History. During many years of research toward the book, Rather received grant support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Tyson Scholars program at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Winterthur Museum, the American Council of Learned Societies, Yale Center for British Art, Massachusetts Historical Society, and The University of Texas.
She has published articles and book reviews in a variety of journals, including American Art, Archives of American Art Journal, Art Bulletin, Art Journal, Arts Magazine, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Journal of the Early Republic, Metropolitan Museum Journal, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Source, Theatre Notebook, William and Mary Quarterly, and Winterthur Portfolio, as well as essays in exhibition catalogues and edited volumes. Rather holds a PhD from the University of Delaware and, at the outset of her scholarly career, engaged issues of modernism in early-twentieth-century American and European sculpture, culminating in Archaism, Modernism, and the Art of Paul Manship (1993).
Cuban and Latin American music scholar and administrator Susan Thomas was named Director of the Butler School of Music in July 2023. Thomas came to UT Austin from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she was the Joseph Negler Professor of Musicology and the director of the American Music Research Center (AMRC). As director of the AMRC, she worked to create opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange, community outreach and engagement and research into the full diversity of American music.
Thomas’s book, Cuban Zarzuela: Performing Race and Gender on Havana's Lyric Stage was awarded the Robert M. Stevenson Prize from the American Musicological Society and the Pauline Alderman Book Award from the International Alliance of Women in Music. Currently, she is completing her second book, The Musical Mangrove: The Transnationalization of Cuban Alternative Music, for Oxford University Press.
Thomas has received significant grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. While directing the AMRC, she also founded the journal, Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal, for which she serves as editor-in-chief.
