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Academic Metals Directory · entry

Richard Thomas

Founding Head, Metalsmithing Department, Cranbrook Academy of Art (1948–1984); also Dean of Students/Registrar there. Last role before death.
last checked 2026-05-29

As archived (≈2014)

Born
1917, Marion, Pennsylvania

Now (checked 2026)

Goes by
Richard Thomas

Current role
Founding Head, Metalsmithing Department, Cranbrook Academy of Art (1948–1984); also Dean of Students/Registrar there. Last role before death.

Status
Deceased

Link
cranbrookkitchensink.com/2015/01/23/photo-friday-the-art-of-richard-thomas/

Training

UndergraduateState Teacher's College at Indiana · 1936 to 1941
BS
GraduateCranbrook Academy of Artart & design college · 1946 to 1948
MFA

Lineage

Taught at
Cranbrook Academy of Art · 1948 to 1984Guilded Lynx · 1948 to 1984
Taught (in this directory)
Alvin A. PineChunghi ChooEarl KrentzinFred FensterFred WoellHiroko Sato PijanowskiJohn M. ChurchJohn WittersheimJon HavenerJosefa FilkoskyJustin McginnisL. Brent KingtonMark BaldridgeMary Lee HuRobert CooganStanley LechtzinThomas BambasVal J. Link

Students drawn from who lists this person as an instructor; institutions from faculty records. See the full lineage timeline →

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Sources

https://cranbrookkitchensink.com/2015/01/23/photo-friday-the-art-of-richard-thomas/https://archives.cranbrook.edu/repositories/2/resources/131https://archives.cranbrook.edu/agents/people/126https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/richard-thomas-papers-9244https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-richard-thomas-12006

From the original Tyler “Academic Metals Directory” (≈2014), brought current in 2026.

Structured facts come from acmet.db. The bio is pulled live from GitHub (Richard-Thomas) so it stays editable. If GitHub can't be reached, a built-in copy shows.