Alfred University - Colleges and Schools

Colleges and Schools

Alfred University offers over 60 majors and areas of concentration at its four colleges and schools. Alfred's four private colleges are The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The College of Business, The Inamori School of Engineering, and The Graduate School.

The New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) consists of the School of Art and Design, with its own dean, and four state-supported materials programs cross-organized within Alfred University's School of Engineering. The College of Ceramics is functioning technically as a "holding entity" (currently with an interim unit head) for the fiscal support of the state programs and the NYSCC mission. The unit head assists with budget preparation for the two aforementioned AU schools and the NYSCC-affiliated Scholes Library of Ceramics (part of the campuswide, unified AU library system), and acts in a liaison role to SUNY.

The School of Art and Design, technically a subunit of the College of Ceramics but autonomously-run with its own dean, is further subdivided into divisions. A visit to the school in 2009 led media historian Siegfried Zielinski to state that Alfred is "the center of alchemy for the 21st century." Alfred's School of Engineering (also autonomously-run with its own dean) currently has four state-supported programs and two privately-endowed programs.

On April 14, 2005, the University announced it had received a gift of $35 million from alumnus Marlin Miller '54, and his wife, Ginger, to further support arts education. The gift is the largest ever in the university's history and is one of the largest endowment gifts made to a U.S. institution to support arts education. Ten million dollars is earmarked for a new theatre at the Miller Performing Arts Center, previously funded by the Millers, and $25 million will go towards the endowment.