The Providence Phoenix has an interview up with John Maeda, the designer and author Esquire named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century, and RISD's new president. An excerpt:

Q: In taking on this role, you talked about how technology is outpacing our ability to use it, and you pointed to the importance of more traditional arts, like throwing a pot. Talk a little about that and why this was an appealing opportunity.

My career has always kind of oscillated. I grew up in a tofu factory, where we were very hand-crafted oriented; I went to MIT; I went to art school, I got back my hands. I went back to MIT again as a professor, and lost my hands even more. And then I sort of came back to here, and came back to my hands. So I'm kind of like trying salty, then sugary, then salty, then sugary.

Read the entire interview here.