The University of Arizona College of Fine Arts has announced the appointment of Pete Froslie as the new associate dean for research and graduate studies. Froslie, a scholar and artist recognized for his work at the vanguard of technology and culture, will officially join the campus community July 1.
“We are thrilled to welcome Pete Froslie to the College of Fine Arts during this transformative era for creative research,” said College of Fine Arts Dean Hasan Elahi. “Pete is a visionary who operates at the cutting edge of technology and culture; his appointment as associate dean for research and graduate studies signals our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what an arts education can be as Arizona Arts prepares artists and creative leaders through contemporary practice, cross disciplinary research, and deep engagement with the world beyond the studio.”
In a move that signals the university’s growing commitment to interdisciplinary innovation, Froslie will hold a multifaceted leadership portfolio. In addition to his deanship, he will serve as a professor of art in the School of Art and as the associate director of AI and the Arts within the University of Arizona’s Office of Responsible AI.
Responsible AI
“The Office of Responsible AI is dedicated to ensuring that emerging technologies serve humanity with integrity, and Pete Froslie is the ideal leader to help us navigate that mission within the creative sector,” said David Ebert, chief AI and data science officer at the U of A. “As associate director of AI and the Arts, Pete will provide a critical voice in the conversation regarding creative labor and authorship. His expertise will ensure our students and faculty are leading the charge in ethical, AI-augmented creative innovation.”
“This appointment reflects the power of true partnership across the university,” said Elahi. “I appreciate this partnership with Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, David Ebert, and Kim Patten, who have built an extraordinary foundation for the Office of Responsible AI in ORP, grounded in the belief that the arts must play a central role in shaping the future of technology. Their shared commitment has ensured that the arts remain central to the university’s AI and technology strategy. Pete Froslie’s role within ORP exemplifies what is possible when the arts are fully integrated into conversations about AI, responsibility, and societal impact.”
Focus of Froslie’s Research
Froslie’s research focuses on the intersection of human-made technological systems, art and culture. He has long been fascinated with the relationship between global political and economic structures and emerging issues of climate and environmental change.
“You can feel the energy around the arts at the University of Arizona,” Froslie said regarding his appointment. “The Arizona Arts community engages urgent environmental and social questions, and there’s a genuine commitment to interdisciplinary work. I am humbled to join such an incredible community of colleagues and students.”
Froslie joins the university at a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping creative industries. As a leader in the Office of Responsible AI, he will address the tensions between emerging technology and creative labor.
“This is a complicated moment. There is a lot of attention on AI, and it is moving quickly into creative spaces. At the same time, there are real concerns about how it affects creative labor and authorship,” Froslie said. “For me, the core of artistic practice is grounded in close observation, lived experiences and sustained critical inquiry. What interests me about this moment is how artists can engage these issues directly. As artists, we can imagine, test, and question possible futures in light of emerging technologies like AI and machine learning.”
More on Pete Froslie
Froslie joins the University of Arizona from the University of Oklahoma, where he is Associate Dean for Technology and Grants of the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts, the Director of the School of Visual Arts, and Professor of Art, Technology and Culture.
He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Studio for Interrelated Media at the Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt) and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nevada-Reno.
As part of his art practice, Froslie’s recent work includes three expeditions to the Arctic Circle in the Svalbard archipelago in 2017, 2019, and 2024. These journeys allowed him to explore rarely seen territories, including abandoned Soviet mines and the Global Seed Vault while establishing a practice that converges fieldwork and scientific research. During these expeditions, Froslie captured a wide array of digital assets, such as underwater recordings of melting ice in Svalbard fjords, electromagnetic wave recordings, and video documentation of the environmental impacts of human activity in the region.