Joan B. Stone, former dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), has died after a 20-year battle with cancer. She was 69 years old.
A native of Chittenango, New York, Stone earned a bachelor’s degree at St. Lawrence University. She held a master’s degree from Syracuse University and a doctorate in education from the University of Rochester.
Dr. Stone joined the faculty at RIT in 1976, teaching mathematics at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She was named a full professor of mathematics in 1989. In 1994, she was named associate provost for academic programs. Then, for 13 years she served as interim dean and then dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, stepping down as dean in 2009. She then took the position of director of development at the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT.