Knapp joins Northeastern from Virginia Tech, where he spent 14 years as founding executive director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology.
R. Benjamin Knapp has been appointed dean of Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media and Design.
He will join Northeastern on Aug. 22 from Virginia Tech, where he served for more than 14 years as founding executive director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology.
The announcement was made to the Northeastern community last week by Tom Sheahan, interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.
Knapp’s career spans higher education and industry, with past roles leading interdisciplinary technology teams at Apple, Sony, Microsoft and Logitech.
Knapp said he was drawn to Northeastern’s innovative spirit and the college’s unique position at the intersection of technology, creativity and human-centered design.
“I’m thrilled and deeply grateful to join Northeastern University, a forward-looking, experiential and collaborative community that is defining the future of higher education,” Knapp said. “What excites me most is the central role the College of Arts, Media and Design plays in shaping how we understand and impact the world.
“In fields that span how we perceive, what we create, and how we communicate, CAMD is human-centered at its core. In an age defined by rapid technological change and the rise of AI, the creative and critical thinking fostered here has never been more essential.”
Sheahan said Knapp’s leadership “will be instrumental in advancing Northeastern’s mission and strengthening our foundation in experiential learning.”
At Stanford University, Knapp developed the Biomuse system, which uses electrical signals from the body to control music. He later led the SIEMPRE project, which built the world’s largest database of emotional responses to music.
He is currently a principal investigator at a National Endowment for the Arts research lab focused on sentiment and innovation. In 2024, he organized a national summit on creativity, empathy and artificial intelligence at the National Academy of Sciences.
Knapp previously served on the faculty at Queen’s University Belfast and has long supported integrating the arts across academic disciplines through his work with the Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities.