Robert Milnes is Professor of Art and Dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX. He was elected in October, 2008 to serve a three year term as president of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, beginning January, 2009. Milnes was previously Director of the School of Art and Design at San Jose State University, a position he has held for fifteen and a half years. A sculptor and ceramist, prior to his arrival in San Jose, he served as Director of the School of Art at Louisiana State University and as Chair of the Art Department and Professor of Ceramics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He holds a PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh (1987), a MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington (1974), and a BA in Philosophy and Fine Arts from Claremont McKenna College (1970). His artworks have been included in over 165 exhibitions nationally including 25 one/two person shows. The works are represented in private and public collections including the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian Institute), Arizona State University, the Erie Museum of Art, the Seattle Arts Commission, the San Jose Museum of Art, and numerous private collections.

Snail (2003) earthenware 39"h

Snow Buddha (Adobe) (2008) earthenware 22.5"d, 8"h

During Spring, 2005, he was on sabbatical leave from SJSU to enroll in total immersion Spanish language classes in Puebla, Mexico and to visit museums and archeological sites there and in Mexico City and Oaxaca. In 1997, he was also granted a sabbatical to to further develop his art work and to travel to China and Taiwan to view museum collections and visit ancient and Neolithic ceramic centers along the Huang Ho River. Recent travels to art centers in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, and Kuwait have augmented his research. Milnes served as Vice President of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of NASAD from 2000-2005. He served from 1991-1997 as a member of the NASAD Accreditation Commission and is past-president of the National Council of Art Administrators. Since 1990, he has served as a consultant or evaluator for more than forty universities, colleges, and independent schools of art, chairing twenty-four accreditation teams for NASAD. He is past president of the Arts Council Silicon Valley and served on the Board of Trustees of the Montalvo Center for the Arts and on the Aesthetics Advisory Committee for the Public Art Program of the San Jose Arts Commission. In 2003, he was selected to be a Fellow of the American Leadership Forum/Silicon Valley and participated in several neighborhood planning groups for the City of San Jose. Milnes currently serves as Vice Chair of the Community Advisory Board for KERA public broadcasting in Dallas  and was the 2007 recipient of the Dallas chapter of the International Interior Design Association award for advancing design.