Onye Ozuzu wasn’t on a job hunt looking to leave her career in Chicago, but she said Florida and UF itself inspired her move to the College of the Arts.
Ozuzu, the current dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Columbia College Chicago, will be transitioning into her position as the dean of the College of the Arts at UF starting August 1.
She was invited to apply for the position.
Brandon McKinley, public relations and partnerships specialist for the College of the Arts, says her track record of success made her stand out against other candidates for the position.
“She definitely has the credentials, and she’s also a really accomplished artist as well,” McKinley said. “She’s done a lot of different research that really explores interdisciplinarity and also intersectionality between how dance can relate to your body and people around you.”
Ozuzu, a Florida native, graduated from Florida State University. She studied English literature during her undergraduate studies and earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in dance and choreography.
Ozuzu said she was aiming to attend law school when her plans were interrupted by a love for dance. She discovered this passion when she took classes at a community organization.
Ozuzu started playing tennis at a young age, partially due to her dad’s intense analysis of movement in sports. If a ball didn’t land on the court, he would make her verbalize why, Ozuzu said.
"There was something about that early training that when I got on the dance floor transferred over. I was able to synthesize the physical information into action."
She turned her passion for dance into a career as a choreographer, researcher and administrator. She has served in her current position at Columbia College Chicago since 2015. She loves to travel and her career has taken her around the world.
“I really love culture and to experience, by being there, how people live and the differences and similarities in the way people express their cultures,” Ozuzu said. “Dance is kind of like a peephole into the things that people do.”
Ozuzu said she felt inspired to take the position after reading about UF and the way the college integrates technology into its work.
“I’m really excited to be a part of a community of artists that have an opportunity to think about art and our intersection with educating the students for a world where there is going to be lots and lots of dynamic change, and where technology is currently and will continue to fundamentally shift what reality is,” Ozuzu said.
Follow Sloan Savage on Twitter @sloanasavage and contact her at ssavage@alligator.org.
