UNLV College of Fine Arts Dean Nancy J. Uscher has begun her term as president of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans (ICFAD). ICFAD is a vehicle through which members share information and ideas that enhance the leadership of deans and associate deans, provosts and associate provosts, university presidents and other arts executives in higher education. ICFAD is the only organization focusing exclusively on issues that impact deans and associate deans of all creative areas in higher education including fine and performing arts, arts education, art history, architecture, and communication.

As dean, Uscher oversees seven departments and schools, as well as the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and the UNLV Performing Arts Center. Prior to joining UNLV in 2016, Uscher was president of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle; provost and music faculty member of the California Institute of the Arts; and professor of music at the University of New Mexico, where she also served as director of the Center for the Arts in Society, as associate provost of Academic Affairs, and as department chair. A concert violist, Uscher earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, a master’s degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and a Ph.D. and distinguished alumni award from New York University.