Randi Millman-Brown retires

Ithaca College bids a beloved colleague a fond farewell

Photo courtesy of Randi Millman-Brown
A beloved colleague and teacher, Randi Millman-Brown (far right), enjoyed a farewell lunch with her students Daphne Burdeaux, Josie Hale, and Suzanne Tang (seated from left to right).

JENNIFER GERMANN
Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y.

After 27 years of creative and dedicated service, Randi Millman-Brown retired as the visual resources curator in the Department of Art History at Ithaca College on June 30, 2020.

Randi had been an integral member of the department since 1993 and is the parent of two Ithaca College alumni, Mathea Millman (class of 2013) and Gabriel Millman (class of 2015). Her many contributions over the years included supporting department faculty in their teaching and assisting the Handwerker Gallery with documentation of its permanent collection.

Photo: Randi Millman-Brown
While a blow-up doll of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” greeted visitors to Randi Millman-Brown’s office, they were not met by chaos. Randi was highly esteemed by her colleagues for her organizational skills.

Over the years, Randi mentored countless students, who worked with her as assistants in the Visual Resources Collection (VRC). The VRC is a teaching collection of art and architecture images in both analog 35mm slide and digital formats. Currently, the collection houses over 35,000 digital images, which are used in courses at Ithaca College. She worked with a range of students, trained them in slide preparation, digital image database management, and museum registrarial practice. With her support and guidance, many of these students have pursued careers that grew directly out of their VRC experiences.

Randi’s contributions to the life of the department and college will also be missed. She has served on Staff Council, exhibited her photography on campus, maintained the department’s digital information display, and produced “slide pins” that visitors to the college’s Gannett Center and library routinely collect.

Randi supported the department through multiple technological transitions over the years, most momentously through the transition from analog slides to digital images. She graciously provided technical support to students and faculty seeking to optimize their presentation of visual media. She shared the breadth of her knowledge on how to use slides for creative projects and offered insight into how the multi-use VRD at Ithaca College was created, knowledge also shared at professional conferences in her field.

Ithaca College faculty and staff will think of Randi as a wonderful colleague and cherished friend, and they will miss seeing her on a daily basis.

In her retirement, Randi will continue to pursue her projects in photography and writing. This summer, she was awarded a three-week artist residency at the Atelier Austmarka in Austmarka, Norway, to pursue her writing about her great uncle, Thor Einar Jensen. Due to COVID-19, her trip to Norway has been postponed, but the readers of The Norwegian American will continue to enjoy new episodes of “The Search for Thor,” as Randi continues to work toward solving the mystery behind Thor’s 1941 death in occupied Norway.

This article originally appeared in the July 31, 2020, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.