Thiel College adds filmmaker to faculty

Staff report

GREENVILLE, Pa.

Pittsburgh filmmaker Ross Nugent has joined the Thiel College faculty as an assistant professor of communication.

Nugent’s documentary “Steel Mill Rolling” was awarded a Jury’s Choice first prize in documentary for the 2014 Black Maria Film Festival.

It has been screening at venues across the country as part of a touring program, including a July 25 showing at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It also was screened at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Florida Experimental Film and Video Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival and Milwaukee Underground Film Festival.

“We are proud to welcome Ross to Thiel College and to the Pedas Communication Center,” said Lynn Franken, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. “His expertise will serve our students well as they seek to become expert communicators in today’s technology-rich environment.”

Nugent received a bachelor’s degree in film studies from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003. He earned his master’s in film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2011. Before coming to Thiel College, he was an adjunct faculty member at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the University of Maryland University College. He was also a lecturer in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Film Department.

Nugent is a Mercer County native. He graduated from Reynolds High School in 1998. He recently completed a solo screening in New York City with MONO NO AWARE, a film exhibition and education group based in Brooklyn. He is on its board of directors. The group was founded in 2007 and is a cinema arts nonprofit based in Brooklyn. The organization leads an educational initiative of analog filmmaking workshops year-round.