September 24, 2019

New Leadership of Media Design Practices

Interaction Design Chair Maggie Hendrie Will Align Two Like-Minded Disciplines

ArtCenter College of Design Provost Karen Hofmann announced today that the College has named Maggie Hendrie to the position of chair of the graduate Media Design Practices department. Anne Burdick, who has held the position for the last 13 years, is stepping down and will continue teaching in the department as an adjunct professor. Hendrie has been chair of ArtCenter’s undergraduate Interaction Design department since 2012 and will now oversee both academic areas as they align under a new structure.

“Aligning these two academic programs allows ArtCenter to create new student pathways and expertise in emerging areas of creative technology,” said Hofmann. “Both programs are committed to engagement with diverse social, cultural and technological contexts. They have a shared community of practice, including alumni, faculty, creative and industry relationships, as well as shared use of materials, labs and makerspaces.”

During the last several months, Hofmann has worked closely with Burdick, faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as educational leadership to better understand the needs of the Media Design Practices (MDP) department, synergies with other departments and determine what the future leadership and next chapter should look like for MDP. The process of engaging with various constituents with diverse perspectives enabled Hofmann to make an informed decision and move to a model with one chair leading both graduate Media Design Practices and undergraduate Interaction Design (IxD).

“I’m thrilled that Maggie will lead this new iteration combining two like-minded dynamic academic areas and become the chair of graduate Media Design Practices and undergraduate Interaction Design,” said Hofmann.

“Joining forces in undergraduate and graduate programming allows ArtCenter to break new ground across the spectrum of emerging technologies; from human-centered professional applications to speculative, exploratory art and design,” said Hendrie. “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. 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.”

As chair of the Bachelor of Science program in Interaction Design, Hendrie has been instrumental in developing interaction for automotive practice and curriculum as well. 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.

Hendrie 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 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.

“I’m 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,” said Hofmann.

Burdick, who recently completed her PhD in Design from Carnegie Mellon University, has invested deeply in defining the future of graduate-level education and research in design. She led the creation of an innovative curriculum that won the 2014 Core77 Award for Educational Initiatives. She has been teaching in the Media Design Practices since 2002 and was appointed as a visiting professor of Visual Communication at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2018.

As she pursues a new career path as a designer, educator, critic and researcher, Burdick will divide 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 UTS as a research professor. During her tenure as chair, Burdick 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.

“It’s been a privilege to lead a risk-taking department at ArtCenter during a time of expansion and invention,” said Burdick. “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 degree program. 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.”

About ArtCenter: Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers 11 undergraduate and seven graduate degrees in a wide variety of industrial design disciplines as well as visual and applied arts. In addition to its top-ranked academic programs, the College also serves members of the Greater Los Angeles region through a highly regarded series of year-round continuing education programs for all ages and levels of experience. Renowned for both its ties to industry and its social impact initiatives, ArtCenter is the first design school to receive the United Nations’ Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status. Throughout the College’s long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.

Contact:
Teri Bond
Media Relations Director
ArtCenter College of Design
teri.bond@artcenter.edu