An exciting announcement for our School

Jordan Schnitzer and the Schnitzer family have long been invested in our work and in our students. They champion the practice and study of art and design as a powerful means of changing lives and changing the world. Alongside Dean Bynum and all of you, I want to personally thank Jordan and his family for their tremendous ongoing support.

It is definitely gratifying to hear prominent Portlanders as well as Dr. Cudd speaking about how diversity of thought and experience fuels creativity and innovation, which in turn sparks opportunities for students and employers and for whole cities. Now more than ever, our school is front and center in this important work.

Beginning today, we will be known as the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design. We are adding the Schnitzer name to acknowledge the generosity of the entire family. In addition, you will note that we are also adding “art history” to our name. This change is faculty-driven, and it recognizes that understanding art in its historical and social contexts and making meaning from it is a critical component of what we do. We will phase in the name change over time in our digital spaces, in printed materials and on physical signage.

I find it both moving and cool that Jordan’s grandparents, immigrants who came to America to build a better life, once rented a house just blocks away from the future site of the school that will now bear the family’s name. That kind of full-circle journey reminds us how much is possible when we believe in and support one another’s dreams.  

This truly is a milestone moment for our school, and one for us to celebrate as a community. I look forward to the opportunity to celebrate the name change with everyone in a very public way when we open the doors of our amazing new home for the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design in 2026.