Ben Rifkin 

 A tenured professor of modern languages and literatures at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, Benjamin “Ben” Rifkin joined Ithaca as a provost and vice president for educational affairs. Ben Rifkin’s achievements at Ithaca include championing the development of integrative learning courses, that is, credit-bearing courses in an academic discipline that include a co-curricular component, such as "Music as Medicine." He also spearheaded an effort to develop and implement a co-curricular transcript. Ben Rifkin worked diligently with colleagues in multicultural affairs and campus communications to address concerns raised by students, faculty, and staff about matters of campus climate (diversity and inclusion): he helped implement new guidelines for inclusive faculty and staff searches and new programming on diversity and inclusion for faculty, staff, and students, among other measures to enhance the campus climate. 

Ben Rifkin previously served as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ; Vice Dean and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia; director of the Russian summer immersion program at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont; and a professor of Slavic languages and director of the Russian language program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Outside of the professional arena, Ben Rifkin is an avid theatergoer and film enthusiast. As an expression of his love of arts and culture, he sat on the board of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities from 2012 to 2015.

Ithaca, NY , US