Ten new full-time faculty members joined the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) this fall.
Rufus Bonds, Jr.
Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor of Musical Theater
Department of Drama 
Rufus Bonds Jr. is an actor, director and writer. In London he performed the title role of Porgy in “Porgy and Bess” at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theater. Carnegie Hall welcomed him as the baritone soloist for Duke Ellington’s “Sacred Music.” His Broadway credits include “Rent,” “Once on This Island” and “Parade.” National tours include “The Color Purple” as Mister, “The Lion King” as Mufasa and “Miss Saigon” as John. Directing projects include “Lysistrata,” “Mamma Mia,” “Children of Eden,” “Tarzan,” “The Wiz,” “Into the Woods,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Shakespeare R&J.”
Bonds received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from President Barack Obama. He is a Eugene O’Neill semifinalist for his play “The Sisters of Rosewall High.” For “Parade” he received the Drama Desk Nomination for Best Supporting Actor and was the Ovation Award winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. For “The Color Purple” he was the NAACP winner for Best Actor in a Musical.
Bonds previously taught theater at California State University at Fullerton, where he earned an M.F.A. in directing. He has trained with such acclaimed artists as Hal Prince, Michael Grief, Julie Taymor and Cameron Mackintosh. He also holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati.
Jennifer DeLucia
Professor of Practice
Director, Creative Arts Therapy Initiative
Jennifer DeLucia joined Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) in 2015 and currently serves as curator of IVMF’s National Veterans Resource Complex Gallery, senior director of community services and research associate. She joined VPA in 2018 as director of creative arts therapies to conduct a feasibility study on establishing low-residency graduate degree programs in art and music therapies at the University. This fall she will hold the title of professor of practice in VPA. Pending the program’s approval, she will also serve as director of the creative arts therapy program.
DeLucia currently teaches graduate-level art therapy courses at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, and volunteers at the Rochester Vet Center. She previously led the AmericaServes Community of Practice for IVMF, a national collective impact initiative. Prior to her work at the University, she served as the director of wellness and supportive services at the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester. There she developed the wellness program to incorporate comprehensive art therapy, mental health counseling and case management services.
DeLucia currently has two publications in press: “Combat Veterans/Military and Veteran Family Resilience Literature Review and Needs-Assessment Report” with R.K. Linsner (Creative Forces, National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network) and “Adapting the collective impact model to veteran services: The case of AmericaServes” (Military Psychology). In 2019 she presented the paper “Leading Beautifully: Challenges, Complexities, and Mentorship in Art Therapy Leadership” at the American Art Therapy Association 50th Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and at the International Art Therapy Practice/Research Conference at Queen Mary University in London.
DeLucia is a member of the American Art Therapy Association and is co-founder and past president of the Western New York Art Therapy Association. She has served on the board of the New York Coalition of the Creative Art Therapists (NYCCAT) and co-founded and chaired the Rochester chapter of NYCCAT.
DeLucia holds a doctorate in art therapy from Mount Mary University, an M.S. in art therapy from Nazareth College and a B.F.A. in studio art from SUNY College at Brockport. She is a licensed creative arts therapist, board certified and a registered art therapist.
Ginnie Hsu
Assistant Professor of Illustration
School of Art 
Ginnie Hsu is an illustrator, designer, educator and maker. She comes to VPA from Mississippi State University, where she served as an assistant professor of art since 2016. Previously she served as a teacher of record of visual communications in art and art history at the University of Texas at Arlington. Hsu has also worked as an illustrator and designer at I/O Studio and an art director and graphic designer at Hardie’s Fresh Food Co. in Dallas, Texas. She was also a UX and UI designer and illustrator at ISER Research Center in Starkville, Mississippi.
Hsu’s work is often inspired by everyday life, nature, human living and well-being. She has exhibited her work internationally, most recently in Taipei, Taiwan, and Itoshima, Japan (solo exhibition). Her clients and publications have included Quarto Publishing, Benchmark Education, Old Dungate Press, Breathe Magazine, American Greetings, Babbel Magazine and Southern Culture Magazine. She has held artist residencies at Studio Kura in Itoshima; Light Gray Art Lab in Bergen, Norway; and the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill in Truro, Massachusetts.
Hsu is a member of the Society of Illustrators and the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). She has received recognition in “Creative Quarterly 55, 3×3 International Illustration Show No.15” (Picture Book Bronze, two Professional Merits), AI-AP International Motion Art Awards 6 (winner), and Uppercase Magazine No.38 “Fresh.”
Hsu holds an M.F.A. and a B.F.A. in visual communication from the University of Texas at Arlington.
William Knuth
Assistant Teaching Professor of String Performance (Violin)
Setnor School of Music
William Knuth is a violinist and Fulbright Scholar who has earned recognition for his artistry as a solo and chamber musician. As a current member of Duo Sonidos with guitarist Adam Levin, Knuth has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Africa and South America. Knuth and Levin released their most recent album “Duo Sonidos: Wild Dance” on the NAXOS label, which immediately rose to no. 3 on the Billboard classical music charts. The duo was awarded First Prize at the 2010 Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain, and BBC Music Magazine chose the debut album “Duo Sonidos” as the “BBC Top Choice US Release Album.”
Knuth is also a member of the esteemed New York City-based new music group Ensemble Signal and has a private teaching studio in the New York City metro area. He served as associate concertmaster of the vibrant Boston-based chamber orchestra Discovery Ensemble and held an ongoing residency with WGBH Boston Radio’s Fraser Performing Arts Studio. While in Boston, he was also a member of the Boston Philharmonic under the leadership of Benjamin Zander.
Knuth’s recent concerts in the U.S. have included a debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall; performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fundacao Oscar Americano Sao Paulo, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard Sanders Theater, Boston WGBH radio, Chicago WFMT radio, WCNY radio, NPR radio and Mayne Stage Chicago; guest solo appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and the Boston International Guitarfest; and ensemble work with Discovery Ensemble, Signal Ensemble, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Harvard Group for New Music, IMPULS Festival Austria, June in Buffalo Festival, Big Ears Festival and the Ojai Festival. Special projects have included collaborations with Steve Reich, Kaija Saariaho, Salvador Brotons, Eduardo Morales-Caso, Jorge Muniz, Phillip Glass, Julia Wolfe, David Lang, Lukas Foss, Norah Jones, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, Goldfrapp, David Byrne, Jon Brion and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Knuth holds an M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied violin with Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet and chamber music with Eliot Fisk and Paul Biss; a Fulbright certificate for work with Ernst Kovacic at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts; and a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of Lynn Blakeslee.
Milton Rubén Laufer 
Director and Associate Professor of Music
Setnor School of Music
Prior to joining VPA, concert pianist and scholar Milton Rubén Laufer served as associate professor and director of Western Carolina University’s School of Music. He also served as an executive at Florida International University College of Communication, Architecture and the Arts in Miami (2015-2017); dean of music at the New World School of the Arts in Miami (2012-14); and was a Fulbright Research Fellow in Madrid, Spain (2001-02). In addition, he is a founding partner of the Tacitus International Consulting Group.
Laufer has delighted audiences on four continents in prestigious venues from Lincoln Center to Tchaikowsky Hall. A versatile artist, he has shared the stage with artists ranging from Natalie Cole to Guerassim Voronkov. His appearances on Spanish-speaking television and radio have been aired throughout Europe, South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Recognized internationally as a leading interpreter and scholar of Spanish piano music, Laufer’s editions of Isaac Albéniz’s “Three Improvisations for Piano” and “La Vega” are published by G. Henle Verlag of Munich and available worldwide. Currently he is writing the book “The Pianist’s Guide to the Repertoire of Spain.” He has two recording projects planned: an album featuring piano and vocal works by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona and recording of Latin works for cello and piano with Canadian cellist Nigel Boehm. His recording credits include albums on the Naxos, Zenph Sound Innovations, Bis Records and Beauport Classics record labels.
Laufer is a charter trustee and lifetime member of the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and an active voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammys) and Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Latin Grammys). He is also a member of the Music Teachers National Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs. He is on the board of artistic advisors for the Alberta Piano Festival in Edmonton, Canada, and the board of advisors for the EDR Foundation in Chicago.
Laufer’s training includes studies at the Music Institute of Chicago, the Gnessin Institute, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan (B.M.) and Rice University (M.M., D.M.A.). His principal teachers were Emilio del Rosario, Nelita True, Anton Nel, Martin Katz, Dickran Atamian and Robert Roux.
Soudabeh Moradian
Assistant Teaching Professor of Film
Department of Transmedia
Soudabeh Moradian previously held adjunct film professor positions at the College of the Canyons-Valencia, (California), Columbia College Hollywood (California), and the Art Institute of California-Inland Empire. Since 2009 she has been a producer, director and editor at Sahara Pictures.
Moradian began filmmaking in 1996 and since then established a strong career, creating more than 70 documentaries, short films, TV series and feature films focusing on cultural issues, women’s rights and the psychological impacts of war. A number of her movies have been showcased and won awards in film festivals around the world, including “Doomsday Machine” (2009), “Story of the Land on Ashes” (2001), “Mahin” (1999), “The Leader of Caravan” (1996), “Les Chroniques d’Iran” (2008-2009) and “Polaris” (2016), which won Best Feature at both the Culver City Film Festival (California) and the California Women Film Festival. “I Was Born Yesterday” (2014) won Best Documentary at Barcelona Planet Film Festival in Spain and at the European Film Festival in Russia.
Moradian earned a B.S. in film from the Tehran University of Art (School of Cinema & Theater) and an M.F.A. in film and video from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
Manuel Moreno-Lee 
Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Art and Animation
Department of Transmedia
Manuel Moreno-Lee is a 3D generalist and artist whose work has been screened at festivals globally, winning several awards. As a freelance animator, he has worked in Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Rochester, New York. Prior to earning an M.F.A. in film and animation at Rochester Institute of Technology, he worked as a founding team member of Boston Global Education. He works in a wide range of mediums to create narrative-driven work in both 2D and 3D.
Meri Page
Assistant Professor of Communications Design
School of Design
Meri Page has more than 20 years of professional experience working in the design industry, where she created work for regional, national, and international clients. Page’s creative work was most recently exhibited at the Southern Utah Museum of Art and has been exhibited throughout the U.S., the Czech Republic, the U.K. and South Korea.
Prior to joining VPA, Page was assistant professor of graphic design at Southern Utah University from 2017-2019, and she previously taught as an adjunct professor at San Mateo College, Napa Valley College, De Anza College, and San Francisco State University.
Page’s research expertise and interests include editorial and print design, artist books, typography and letterpress printing. She is an active member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and the College Book Art Association (CBAA) and was the 2018 recipient of the College Book Art Association’s Project Grant Award.
Page earned an M.F.A. in studio art from Mills College, where she studied with conceptual artist Catherine Wagner, and a B.A. in art history from Mills College.
Ricky Pak
Assistant Professor of Acting
Department of Drama
Prior to joining VPA, Ricky Pak was at the University of Redlands in 2017 and 2019, where he taught Adaptation and Devising in Theatre as an adjunct faculty. Prior to the University of Redlands, he served as an adjunct faculty member at Cypress College from 2015-16 and California State University-Los Angeles from 2011-2015, teaching classes in acting, theater and Acting for Camera.
Pak is a professional actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) as well as the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). He has appeared in numerous films, television shows and commercials; performed in such regional theaters as East West Players and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; as well as toured across the country at hundreds of venues performing all original theatrical work focused on the Asian American diaspora with the Hereandnow Theatre company. He is a teaching artist with the New York City-based Tectonic Theater Project, creators of the seminal work “The Laramie Project,” teaching the company’s unique method of creating compelling new work through devised theater called Moment Work. Pak is also the artistic director for the Circle Squared Collective, a theater company that creates new work though devised theater with Moment Work, and has worked in partnership with such prestigious theater companies as the Center Theater Group, Cornerstone Theater Company and the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Helping to increase the representation of performers from non-traditional backgrounds on stage and in front of the camera is a priority for Pak. He has worked with Disney/ABC Creative Talent Development and Inclusion to help develop new television pilots written by writers from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds. In 2014, Pak was awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship to work with the Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center to help create the Encuentro 2014, during its time, the largest Latinx theater festival in the world. He has received recognition for his directing and acting by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 2010 and 2012.
Pak earned an M.F.A. in performance/acting for television, film, and theatre at California State University-Los Angeles and a B.A. in liberal arts: arts and humanities, with minors in English and religious studies at Colorado State University.
Sally Tomkins
Professor of Practice of Fashion Design
School of Design
Sally Tomkins spent 30+ years in the fashion industry holding many executive leadership positions in business development, design, product development and operational functions.
Tomkins spent nine years (2007-2015) with Jockey International as the senior vice president of research, design, and product development, collaborating with the senior leadership team to develop long-term growth strategies. Key to the company’s success was several new innovative product introductions. Tomkins also spent seven years (2000-2007) with Sara Lee Branded Apparel, where she held the role of senior vice president of research, design, product development and merchandising. As part of the senior leadership team, Tomkins was responsible for 750 employees, for global strategy and for the execution of product creation to their launch. She spent the last 16 years of her career in the U.S. and holds a diverse background in international management.
Tomkins’ successes include corporation organizational development projects and the introduction of PLM systems to improve efficiencies and reduced costs. She developed product strategies that delivered continuous business growth using innovation as a competitive advantage and played major roles in the development of Seamless technology and the innovative Jockey Bra.
Tomkins, along with her team at Jockey International, has been recognized by the Underfashion Club, a not-for-profit intimate apparel industry organization dedicated to education, with an Innovation Award, has been featured in The New York Times and other publications for her work with the innovative Jockey Bra, and has created strong working relationships with global suppliers and exceptional researchers and developers.
Tomkins earned her degree in fashion and clothing design from Medway College of Design (U.K.).