David Rini

Rini was born in northern eastern, Ohio. In 1987, he earned a B.S. in Biology from Bowling Green State University. In 1989 earned an M.F.A. in Medical and Biological Illustration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1990, he founded the Department of Neurosurgical Illustration of the Mayfield Neurological Institute/University of Cincinnati, and served as its director until 1993 when he relcated to Baltimore to join the faculty of the department of Art as Applied to Medicine department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 2018, he was promoted to the rank of Professor and a year later became the Director of the Graduate Program in Medical and Biological Illustration.

As a medical illustrator, Rini has authored and made significant artist contributions to numerous scholarly publications in his field. In 2005, he received a Fulbright Scholar Award for travel to Chile to establish South America’s first graduate program in Medical and Scientific Illustration. Rini’s illustrations can be found in several collections including the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the Cincinnati Zoo.

As a portrait artist, Rini has studied with a number of world-renowned artists including the late Daniel Greene, Anthony Ryder, Marvin Mattelson, and Peter Egeli. In addition to Johns Hopkins, his portraits are in the collections of the Elkridge Club in Baltimore, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and many private collections.  Rini maintains a painting studio at his home in Monkton, Maryland and accepts portrait commissions.