Photos by Juan Posada
Our Graduate Media Design Practices (MDP) program asks students to investigate emerging technologies, develop new methodologies and apply design to global social issues. For the past 13 years, the program has been led, shaped and directed by freshly-minted PhD, Dr. Anne Burdick. Our Undergraduate Interaction Design (IxD) program, chaired by user experience pioneer Maggie Hendrie, has a similar focus—using cutting edge technology with a focus on the user experience to design cohesive systems that can deeply impact people’s lives. When Burdick informed the College that she was going to shift career focus and step down as MDP chair, Provost Karen Hofmann saw an opportunity to align these two programs and tapped Maggie Hendrie to lead them both as chair of IxD and MDP.
“The two programs already have a shared community of practice, including alumni, faculty, creative and industry relationships, as well as shared use of materials, labs and makerspaces. Aligning the two allows ArtCenter to create new student pathways and expertise in emerging areas of creative technology. Both programs are committed to engagement with diverse social, cultural and technological contexts,” explained Hofmann, who consulted with faculty, students, staff and alumni of the program as well as executive and educational leadership to better understand the needs of the department.
Burdick has decided to pursue a new career path as a designer, educator, critic and researcher and will be dividing her time between Los Angeles and Sydney. She will have a dual affiliation with ArtCenter as an Adjunct Professor and with the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney as a Research Professor.
In announcing the change in leadership, Hofmann noted, “during her tenure as Chair, Anne served ArtCenter in tremendous ways as an educational leader – she was one of the first co-chairs of the Chairs Council, helped the College define shared governance, spearheaded visioning processes and served on numerous committees focusing on advancing design education, research and technologies at ArtCenter. We are grateful for Anne’s service to the College and for defining and leading one of the most compelling and unique graduate design programs in the country.”
Reflecting on her tenure leading the MDP program, Burdick said,“It’s been a privilege to lead a risk-taking department at ArtCenter during a time of expansion and invention. When I started we were tucked into a corner on the Hillside Campus. In the last decade, we have doubled in size, turned the Wind Tunnel into a maker space, studio and cultural venue, all while developing a world-class experimental design MFA. Our projects have brought us from the Silicon Valley to Kampala, Uganda. What a wild ride! I couldn’t be prouder of the faculty team, our amazing graduates and all that we have accomplished together.”
Hendrie, who was hired in 2012 to develop the Bachelor of Science program in Interaction Design, has been instrumental in developing interaction for automotive practice and curriculum as well. As chair, she helped organize the Data to Discovery symposium and ongoing programs with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, bringing computer science and design students together with researchers and engineers to develop interactive visualization tools.
She is a user experience pioneer with more than 20 years of experience in new interactive product/service strategy, digital product design, project management, user-centered design, and usability and user experience testing. In 2004, she founded Sony Pictures Entertainment’s User Experience Competency Center and, as director, was responsible for working with divisions worldwide to integrate usability, information architecture and interaction into Sony devices and cross-platform projects. Prior, she was creative director for user experience at Whittman-Hart/MarchFirst, director of client solutions at Caresoft, strategy director at Manifest Digital and senior user interface designer at CyberMedia.
She is also the principal of Maggie Hendrie Design, a cross-channel business and service solution firm providing mobile and web apps, social media campaigns and consumer-facing online tools for various companies, including venture capital investors, managements consultancies, autonomous automotive and multiple verticals. She received her MA in liberal arts from the University of Edinburgh, her MS in communication and information sciences from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University and her DEA in multimedia design and communication from the University of Paris VIII.
Hendrie offered the following perspective on moving forward in her new role: “Joining forces in undergraduate BS and graduate MFA programming allows ArtCenter to break new ground across the spectrum of emerging technologies; from human-centered professional applications to speculative, exploratory art and design. MDP has long been a model for innovative and experimental creative and academic practice and IxD has grown from a handful of students in our first cohort to nearly 100 students in the program today. Together they are successfully developing pathways for students in creative and professional practice, academia and research. Experimentation in research, design and practice influences new teaching models and student experiences. Together they demonstrate ArtCenter’s thought leadership in human-centered design, critical making and emerging professional practices.”
The College has benefitted greatly from Burdick’s leadership and we are thrilled she will continue to contribute to the education of our students. We are also incredibly fortunate to have another pioneering educational leader in-house who is perfectly suited to take on the challenge of following in her footsteps.
