KCAD Community Bids Fond Farewell to Four Retiring Faculty Members

Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University is honoring four longstanding faculty members who have announced their retirement from the college following the conclusion of the spring 2024 semester. 

Professors Molly Alicki Corriveau (Illustration), Angela Dow (Graphic Design), Bill Fischer (Digital Art and Design), and Diane Zeeuw (Painting, Master of Fine Arts) represent a combined 106 years of providing unwavering support to KCAD and its mission while nurturing the creative and professional growth of countless students. The Ferris State University Board of Trustees has awarded each the title of faculty emeritus in recognition of their exceptional work. 

"Molly, Angela, Bill, and Diane have had an immeasurable impact on KCAD. In additional to their work with students, they have been vital to the development of innovative curriculum, served as gracious mentors for new faculty, and established themselves as experts in their fields," said KCAD President Tara McCrackin. "On behalf of the entire KCAD community, I share thanks for their service and wish each the best in this next chapter."

Molly Alicki-Corriveau - 32 Years

Molly Alicki-Corriveau joined the KCAD Illustration faculty already a seasoned professional illustrator and educator. After earning her MFA from the California College of the Arts, she launched a freelance career and soon began specializing in children's book illustration. That passion would continue to grow through her teaching, as she started a consistently popular course on children's book illustration that inspired numerous students to enter the field themselves.

Alicki-Corriveau is also an established fine artist who has exhibited broadly in venues such as ArtPrize, the Festival of the Arts Regional Exhibition, Dama Gallery, and Overbrook Gallery. Beyond her own creativity, she has also been a catalyst for exposing her students to the wider world of illustration. In 2012, she curated an exhibition in collaboration with the Society of Illustrators that brought the work of Wendell Minor, C.F. Payne, Mary GrandPré, and Caldecott Medal winner Erin Stead to the KCAD campus.

Angela Dow - 25 Years

Angela Dow began her KCAD career as an adjunct instructor before rising through the ranks to become a tenured professor and leader in the Graphic Design program. She brought with her a deep well of industry experience as the head of a creative agency she launched following her undergraduate education at Michigan State University, as well as a keen interest in sharing her skills and experience in advertising design, branding, and print production with the next generation of graphic designers. 

Angela has emphasized building meaningful relationships with her students throughout her tenure, leveraging her industry connections to create opportunities for them to grow and succeed both in and outside of the classroom. Her mentorship has guided many students to the winner's circle of design competitions like the regional and national ADDY Awards, the CMYK Top 100, and the Communication Arts Photo Annual, and helped lead countless graduates to become forward thinking leaders and change agents in the design industry. 

Always one to embrace opportunities to collaborate with her colleagues, Angela has played a key role in ongoing evolution of the Graphic Design curriculum—including two stints as program chair—and also helped foster new and innovative learning experiences for the entire KCAD community. Her efforts sparked study away trips to New York City, industry sponsored projects with companies like Herman Miller, Izzydesign, and BASF, and engagement with key professional organizations like the American Advertising Federation and 

Bill Fischer - 27 Years

Bill Fischer came to KCAD in the midst of a career as an award-winning designer and artist to found the Digital Art and Design program. Leveraging his deep industry experience—including over a decade as a production design manager at Lear Corporation and founding and leading the turn-key multimedia company BlackBOX Design—Fischer would grow the Digital Art and Design program into a multifaceted hub for experiential learning. His efforts—which included serving as program chair—connected cutting-edge curricula in animation, imaging, interaction design, and sound design with opportunities for students to work on collaborative projects with real-world implications that prepared them for career success across the digital media industry landscape.

Through his leadership of The EPIC Project, Fischer connected KCAD faculty and students to a wide range of professionals, schools, companies, and organizations to produce free, innovative media aimed at helping K-12 educators create engaging learning environments and empowering community advocates to inspire audiences to action. Over its nine-year run, the project engaged 300,000 K-12 students, 28 K-12 educators, 45 field experts, and 468 KCAD students. 

Diane Zeeuw - 22 Years

She taught painting at both the graduate and undergraduate level—serving long stints as chair of both the (former) BFA Painting program and MFA Painting program—as well as graduate-level critical studies courses focused on ethics, visual representation, and post-structuralism.

Zeeuw's artwork has been featured nationally at the New Arts Project in Pennsylvania, Gallery 33 Contemporary in Chicago, Zhou B Art Center in Chicago, the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis, and Wayne State University in Detroit, among many other venues, and is included in the permanent collections of the Detroit Institute of Art, Steelcase Corporation, the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, and the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. Her extensive scholarly work has had an equally expansive reach, with numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals exploring topics such as ethics and research integrity training in the creative art and the challenges educational systems face when trying to accommodate neurodiverse students. Zeeuw has also been invited to present her research at international and national academic forums including the Mediations Biennale in Poland, The American Studies Conference in South Korea, and The American Association of University Professors Conference in Washington. D.C.

By channeling this wealth of professional experience into her teaching, Zeeuw became an invaluable mentor to countless KCAD students, inspiring them to explore their creative practice through multiple lenses and guiding them toward a balance between technical mastery and a heightened sense of the conceptual underpinnings of their work.