California Institute of the Arts recently announced the appointment of Rachel Berger as its next vice provost. A designer, educator, and academic leader, Berger is currently a tenured associate professor of graphic design at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, where she also serves as president of the Faculty Senate. From 2014 to 2023, she served as chair of Graphic Design at CCA, where she has been on faculty since 2010.

“We are excited to welcome Rachel to CalArts,” said Tracie Costantino, CalArts’ provost. “She is an equity-minded academic leader who cares deeply about students. Rachel brings extensive expertise in curriculum, shared governance, and a designer’s perspective on how to strengthen the student experience overall. I am thrilled to have her join the Provost Office.”

“I am so excited to be joining the CalArts community,” said Berger, “and I look forward to working together to build on the Institute’s legacy of radical making, teaching and learning.”

Throughout her career, Berger has championed student success and cultivated progressive curriculum and pedagogy. During her time at CCA, she served as director of TBD*, a student design studio dedicated to helping nonprofits and civic institutions further their missions through design, and as director of Studio Forward, a sponsored partnership with Google where interdisciplinary teams of design students explored pressing topics such as the future of belonging.

A practicing artist and designer, she maintains an independent creative studio, Rachel Berger Design, focused on sparking discourse on contemporary culture. Berger earned a BA in American studies and an MFA in graphic design from Yale University. Her first day will be Aug. 14.