Elizabeth Hudson, dean of Northeastern’s College of Arts, Media and Design, will resign from the position effective June 30, 2025, according to an email to the college’s students and staff from the Office of the Provost sent Oct. 16. 

Hudson assumed her role July 20, 2015, taking over for the College of Arts, Media and Design’s, or CAMD’s, first dean Xavier Costa. Costa had held the role from CAMD’s founding in 2010 until 2014, making Hudson the college’s second dean since CAMD was established. 

Hudson told The News in an interview that she took the job at Northeastern to expand her work in the interdisciplinary study of art and design with other fields. 

“I was very interested in thinking about innovation in the fields of art and design and the way in which innovation with technology fields is really important for the human experience,” she said.

“Under Dean Hudson’s leadership, the College of Arts, Media and Design has transformed, reversing previous declining enrollments into a decade of exponential growth across faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students and external research funding,” Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Madigan wrote in the CAMD-wide email. “Through an emphasis on collaboration, empowering talent and building consensus, she focused on fostering faculty and program excellence; innovating to future-proof the fields across CAMD and building a national and international reputation.”  

Madigan said CAMD will follow the typical Northeastern protocol from the Faculty Handbook and form a search committee to begin looking for Hudson’s successor. 

“During [her] 10 years, through her leadership, CAMD has completely transformed and is in fabulous shape for the future,” Madigan said at a faculty senate meeting Oct. 16. 

Prior to joining Northeаstern, Hudson was the inaugural director of the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington for seven years, The News previously reported. Hudson began her teaching career at The University of Virginia in 1998 after getting her doctorate degree in musicology at Cornell University, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Hudson worked to increase CAMD enrollment throughout her tenure. Undergraduate enrollment increased 50% in the last five years, and there was a 64% increase in graduate students, according to Madigan’s email. This growth is accompanied by a considerable number of new graduate programs including an Arts Administration and Cultural Entrepreneurship master’s of science, an Interdisciplinary Design and Media doctoral degree and a Media Innovation and Data Communication master’s of science. 

The students are what truly make up the school in Hudson’s eyes, she said.

“I have a philosophy [in regards to] education about engaging with students, and the students of Northeastern have really grabbed that and taken it in so many wonderful directions,” Hudson said.

Hudson has also worked to increase CAMD’s research program and “enabled the college to integrate human literacies in creativity, communication and design with emerging technologies and data literacies,” Madigan wrote. Her work influenced areas like creativity and health, virtual reality, data visualization and spatial justice, according to the email.

The email said the college has also seen significant growth in research funding, with a 256% increase since the spring of 2018. 

“Figuring out how to collaborate [with other disciplines] in key fields was really important to help people understand the impact and the power of what is happening across CAMD,” Hudson said, adding that the research taking place at CAMD demonstrates how much training and work is truly involved in creativity. 

“Creativity is a form of knowledge,” she said.  

Hudson’s leadership has also led to an increased number of faculty in the college. There has been a 67% increase in both tenure and non-tenure track professors across the last five years, helping create gender equality throughout the college, according to the email.

“It is the fantastic faculty that are absolutely leading and innovating and thinking and are really fundamentally creative,” Hudson said.

Throughout her tenure, Hudson also oversaw the creation of the Center for Design, the Co-Lab for Data Impact, the Center for Communications, Media, Innovation & Social Change and the Interdisciplinary Media Studio Organization, in addition to relaunching the Center for the Arts. 

In the email, Madigan thanked Hudson for her “visionary leadership and passion for integrating human literacies with emerging technologies for the betterment of education and research.” 

“Her contributions to CAMD and the university are impressive and have elevated the reputation of the college’s programs,” Madigan wrote. “Dean Hudson leaves behind a legacy as dean that will serve Northeastern and its students for generations to come.”

Hudson said she is currently unsure of her plans for the future, but deeply enjoyed her time at Northeastern.  

“[I am] looking forward, with great excitement, to a sabbatical next year,” she said.

As she transitions out of her role, she encourages students “to embrace what you have got here.” 

“The faculty are wonderful, the programs, the potential is just so fabulous,” she said. “I just hope [the current CAMD students] enjoy and embrace [their time here].”