left: Amanda
Daubers Support Mental Health
Dauber 06 PT at her RISD graduation. Her parents say that she regarded Ophelia (2006, oil on canvas, 45x57") as her best painting and the one most representative of her work.
In memory of their daughter, Amanda Dauber 06 PT (1982–2008), Michele and Ken Dauber have made a cornerstone gift to the Student Development and Counseling Services department at RISD. Amanda suffered from depression and substance abuse and took her own life in 2008. “Amanda loved RISD and did wonderful work there,” notes Michele, who is a professor of law at Stanford University. “We hope that through this gift we can help to de-stigmatize mental illness on campus and make help more readily available for students who need it.” Thanks to the Daubers’ generosity Samantha Becker, a clinical social worker who has worked with college students at Mount Holyoke, SUNY/Stony Brook and Wellesley, has joined RISD’s counseling staff. A strong generalist, her areas of clinical concentration include women’s, gender and race issues, eating disorders, relationship concerns, depression and anxiety. “Mental health is a big issue right now on college campuses across the country,” notes Ken Dauber, an engineer at Google. “We want to help RISD improve in this area because we know how important it is to reach out to artistically talented individuals who are struggling with issues like bipolar disorder, addiction and other mental illnesses.”
Make It Better On March 11 and 12 RISD is hosting Make It Better, a symposium on art, design and the future of health care. Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the series of open conversations will bring leading artists, designers and activists together with health professionals, policy-makers, entrepreneurs and members of the RISD community to frame an expanded role for art and design in improving the healthcare industry. The RWJF is supporting Make It Better through its Pioneer Portfolio (www.rwjf.org/pioneer), which
For more on giving to RISD, go to www.risd.edu/give.
supports innovators with bold ideas that push beyond conventional thinking about health and health care. As the country’s largest philanthropy devoted to improving these areas, RWJF shares RISD’s belief that exploring alternative models for research and collaboration between disparate fields—including art, design, medicine, science—can transform health and healthcare delivery in the 21st century. The symposium is free and open to the public, but requires registration at makeitbetter.risd.edu, where you’ll also find a full schedule and list of speakers.
WINTER 2011
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