Photo: Juan Posada
Provost Karen Hofmann was presented with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) Education Award during the organization’s annual International Design Conference in recognition of her significant and distinguished contributions to the field of industrial design education. The IDSA Education Award is presented to an IDSA member who has earned the respect and admiration of colleagues and students for teaching industrial design; and who has maintained an unwavering commitment to the values and principles of the industrial design profession.
“It is an absolute honor to be recognized by IDSA with the Education Award. Like others who received this recognition before me, it represents a passionate commitment in preparing the next generation of designers to create purposeful projects and meaningful careers,” Hofmann said. “It goes without saying, this award represents not only my work but the work of many at ArtCenter who contribute to innovative programming at the College: our students and faculty who continuously push the boundaries of design education as well as the staff and leadership who empower our creative community.
“It is also an honor to be counted among the three other women who have been past recipients of the IDSA Education Award—Leslie Speer, Lorraine Justice and Katherine McCoy—since they have served as role models for me to pursue education as a lifelong commitment,” Hofmann continued. “And I humbly extend my appreciation to Leslie, as well as ArtCenter faculty and fellow IDSA members Katherine Bennett and Babette Strousse for nominating me in the first place.”
ArtCenter President Lorne Buchman said, “I couldn’t be prouder of Karen and the incredible work she’s done at the College, both as Product Design chair and, now, as our new provost. She’s proven to be an agile and thoughtful leader; always with a focus on student preparation and success. Mazel tov, Karen!”
Each year, IDSA also recognizes exceptional student design talent through their Student Merit Awards program. Recent Product Design alumnus Charlie Hodges (BS 2018) and Graduate Industrial Design student Ryan Cunningham received Student Merit Awards in the undergraduate and graduate categories for the Western District. Coinciding with their award wins, Hodges presented an overview of his work during the IDSA/Eastman Innovation Lab Education Symposium and Cunningham has been asked to contribute an article to the winter issue of IDSA’s INNOVATION magazine.
