Lucinda Lavelli, dean emerita of the College of the Arts at the University of Florida, passed away on November 24. She was 75 years old.
A native of Rocky River, Ohio, Lavelli earned her bachelor’s degree from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She received both a master’s degree in nonprofit management and a master of fine arts degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
After completing her education, Lavelli worked as chairwoman of performing arts and director of dance at the Hathaway Brown School in Ohio for 12 years. In 1993, she transitioned to the University of Akron, where she taught for nearly a decade. There, she served as director of the School of Dance, and later as director of the School of Dance, Theatre, and Arts Administration. Next, she was hired as provost and vice chancellor for arts and academics at North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.
In 2006, Lavelli was named dean of the College of the Arts at the University of Florida, where she remained until her retirement in 2018. Over the course of her 12-year tenure, she established several interdisciplinary programs focused on integrating the arts into scientific research and innovation. Upon her retirement, Lavelli and her husband established the Lucinda Lavelli Business of the Arts Fund, which supports business skills development in the arts through speaker series, conferences, and workshops.