Carnegie Mellon School of Design

Last updated
Carnegie Mellon School of Design
School of design.jpg
Margaret Morrison, the principal facility of the Carnegie Mellon School of Design
Type Design
Established1900
Parent institution
 Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts
Location
Pittsburgh
,
Pennsylvania
,
United States

40°26′43″N79°56′38″W / 40.44523°N 79.94397°W / 40.44523; -79.94397
LanguageEnglish
Website design.cmu.edu

The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University is a degree-granting institution within a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The School of Design is one of five schools within the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts offering both under and post graduate education. The School is accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and awards BDES, MA, MDES, MPS, MII-PS, DDES, and PhD degrees. The School of Design has 21 full-time and 10 adjunct faculty.

Contents

History

The university began as the Carnegie Technical Schools, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900, with the vision that a school would be created where the working-class of Pittsburgh could learn the skills and trades needed to enhance their careers and community. Soon after the formation of the school, it was faced with a demand for baccalaureate programs. In 1912, the school became the Carnegie Institute of Technology (“Carnegie Tech”) that offered four-year degrees for students that attended the College of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts. [1]

The School of Design is currently housed within Margaret Morrison, a beautiful[ citation needed ] building with its iconic[ citation needed ] rotunda. Margaret Morrison is named after Andrew Carnegie's mother who played an important role in influencing Carnegie's legacy to create vocational training space for women. The women of Margaret Morrison, also known as Maggie Murphs, started taking classes in Porter Hall until their new building was completed in 1907. Originally, the school offered only vocational courses that trained women to be librarians, secretaries, seamstresses, and bookkeepers. However, it didn’t take long for the curriculum to evolve in response to female student demand. At a time when American women still didn’t have the right to vote, these changes were a harbinger for the way in which a woman’s role would transform in society over the next century. [2]

In 1917, within the College of Fine Arts, the School of Applied Design was started with a series of focuses including commercial illustration, costume design, textile design, interior decoration, stage design, and printing—all within the Painting, Decorating and Sculpture departments. In 1928, a letter was written to Professor Keeble from Westinghouse Electric Corporation requesting that an Industrial Design course should be formed saying:

“The demand for the course in the fine art of design as applied to electrical machinery is one which we must meet within the next year .. . I hope that you and your faculty members will bear it in mind so that material may be selected and plans developed. I am sure that there is not a doubt in the world but that we shall bring this matter up with you a year hence.”

In the fall of 1934, Carnegie Institute of Technology was the first educational institution to introduce a bachelor's degree programme for industrial design. Precursors for the program was the School of Applied Art and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Donald Dohner, ‘The Father of Industrial Design Education in America’ and faculty member at CIT until 1935, was the main person responsible for the program's curriculum. His experience in industrial design at Westinghouse paired with his knowledge of tools and manufacturing made it clear that he knew what industrial design was and what it could be. The program he created is still being used by most industrial design programmes in the United States. Soon after, both the school and Westinghouse lost interest in the programme and, without a dean, it stayed a 2-year option until 1954. In 1954, a dean was placed to lead the industrial design program but it continued to have very little school and student interest. In 1967, Industrial Design merged with graphics, creating the Department of Design. It was officially established with four-year degree programs in industrial and graphic design. Also in 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University. In 1997, the department changed ‘graphic’ to communication design. [3]

In 1994, The School of Design became the first institution to offer a degree in Interaction Design with the launch of a two-year master's degree (MDes). It was one of the first schools in North America to offer a PhD in Design (2000) and is one of four or five schools in the U.S. to offer the program. The program is built on information and communication design and teaches students the process needed in order to design desirable systems and interactions for the future. [4]

The school, in 2004, helped launch the Service Design Network (with Koln International School of Design, Linkopings Universitet, Politecnico di Milano and Domus Academy) and its faculty have contributed to a growing body of research in this area.

In 2014 the School introduced a new area of specialty: Transition Design. Transition Design trains design students to think in systems and to think in terms of intervening in the system rather than designing a product or artifact. With this shift in perspective towards a new tradition in design, the program frames design as having a crucial role in creating a societal shift towards sustainable futures in a range of systems—transportation, healthcare, education, food and water, etc. Through transition design, these complex issues are addressed through interventions in all design specialties, alongside experts of other disciplines. This allows the research necessary to go beyond design on its own and get acquainted with interdisciplinary practice . [5]

Programs of study

Human/user-centered design research methods, traditional and emerging processes and technological innovations are employed in the design of products, communications and environments. Three broad areas of focus inform programs and curricula: Design for Service, Design for Social Innovation and Transition Design.

The School offers degrees at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels:

Undergraduate degrees

Graduate degrees

Doctoral degrees

Rankings

Carnegie Mellon's School of Design is annually ranked as one of the top design schools in the United States. in 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked the School of Design's Interaction Design program first in the country [6] Communication Design (graphic) program 5th [7] and the Industrial Design program third. CMU's Industrial Design program has historically ranked in the top 10 design schools in the U.S. in the annual Design Intelligence survey of architecture and design schools. In 2014 and 2015, LinkedIn ranked Carnegie Mellon's Design program as number one on their list: Best Undergraduate Universities for Designers. It was also ranked as number one for Graduate Universities for Designers.

Previous Heads of the School of Design

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon University</span> Private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, it became Carnegie Mellon University through its merger with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon and formerly a part of the University of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering</span>

The Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering is the academic unit that manages engineering research and education at Carnegie Mellon University. The College can trace its origins from Andrew Carnegie's founding of the Carnegie Technical Schools. Today, The College of Engineering has seven departments of study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinz College</span> Public policy school of Carnegie Mellon University

The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, also known as Heinz College, is the public policy and information college of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It consists of the School of Information Systems and Management and the School of Public Policy and Management. The college is named after CMU's former instructor and the later U.S. Senator John Heinz from Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science</span> School for computer science in the United States

The School of Computer Science (SCS) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US is a school for computer science established in 1988. It has been consistently ranked among the best computer science programs over the decades. As of 2024 U.S. News & World Report ranks the graduate program as tied for No. 1 with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts</span> Fine arts school of Carnegie Mellon University

The College of Fine Arts (CFA) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania oversees the Schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Drama, and Music along with its associated centers, studios, and galleries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Carr University of Art and Design</span> Canadian art school in Vancouver, Canada

The Emily Carr University of Art + Design is a public university of art and design located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The institution is named for Canadian artist and writer Emily Carr, who was known for her Modernist and Post-Impressionist artworks.

The Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences is the liberal and professional studies college and the second-largest academic unit by enrollment at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The college emphasizes study through rigorous analysis and technology of the behaviors, institutions, and beliefs that constitute the human experience, describing itself as “not an ordinary liberal arts school.” The college was named for Marianna Brown Dietrich, the mother of philanthropist William S. Dietrich II, after his donation of $265 million to the university in 2011 – the largest single donation in Carnegie Mellon history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley</span> Branch campus in California

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley is a degree-granting branch campus of Carnegie Mellon University located in Mountain View, California. It was established in 2002 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar</span> University in Qatar

Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar is a satellite campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Doha, Qatar. This campus is a member of the Qatar Foundation and started graduating students in May 2008. It enrolls around 400 students, has 60 faculty and postdoctoral researchers, and 90 staff members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Madeira</span>

The University of Madeira is a Portuguese public university, created in 1988 in Funchal, Madeira. The university offers first, second cycle and Doctorate academic degrees in a wide range of fields, in accordance with the Bologna process. It is now under the CMU/Portugal agreement with Carnegie Mellon University, having master programme in Computer Engineering, Human Computer Interaction and Entertainment Technology. Students admitted will be eligible for scholarships and have internship opportunity during the summer break. In addition, Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, founded in January 2010, is devoted to building international partnership with other educational institutes and industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon School of Art</span> Academic unit of the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts

The Carnegie Mellon School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a degree-granting institution and a division of the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. The School of Art was preceded by the School of Applied Design, founded in 1906. In 1967, the School of Art separated from the School of Design and became devoted to visual fine arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education City</span> Campus in Al Rayyan, Qatar

Education City is an educational and research hub located in Al Rayyan Municipality in the Doha Metropolitan Area of Qatar. Developed by the Qatar Foundation, the 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) property houses various educational facilities, including satellite campuses of eight international universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning</span> Art school at the University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) is an arts and architecture college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was initially established as the School of Applied Art in 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human–Computer Interaction Institute</span>

The Human–Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a department within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is considered one of the leading centers of human–computer interaction research, and was named one of the top ten most innovative schools in information technology by Computer World in 2008. For the past three decades, the institute has been the predominant publishing force at leading HCI venues, most notably ACM CHI, where it regularly contributes more than 10% of the papers. Research at the institute aims to understand and create technology that harmonizes with and improves human capabilities by integrating aspects of computer science, design, social science, and learning science.

A Master of Design is a postgraduate academic master degree in the field of Design awarded by several academic institutions around the world. The degree level has different equivalencies; some MDes are equivalent to Master of Fine Arts and others to a Master of Arts or Master of Science postgraduate degree in alternative disciplines. It often follows a Bachelor of Design degree and requires around two years of study and research in design.

The Tepper School of Business is the business school of Carnegie Mellon University. It is located in the university's 140-acre (0.57 km2) campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Angel G. Jordan was a Spanish-born American electronics and computer engineer known as the founder of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and co-founder of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and served on its faculty for 55 years, since 2003 as Emeritus. He was instrumental in the formation of the School of Computer Science (SCS) at Carnegie Mellon. He has made contributions to technology transfer and institutional development. He served as Dean of Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering and later as the provost of Carnegie Mellon University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon University Computational Biology Department</span>

The Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department (CBD) is one of the seven departments within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Now situated in the Gates-Hillman Center, CBD was established in 2007 as the Lane Center for Computational Biology by founding department head Robert F. Murphy. The establishment was supported by funding from Raymond J. Lane and Stephanie Lane, CBD officially became a department within the School of Computer Science in 2009. In November 2023, Carnegie Mellon named the department as the Ray and Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department, in recognition of the Lanes' significant investment in computational biology at CMU.

Terry Irwin is an American designer, academic and Professor and former Head of the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a key figure in the development of transition design—an area of design practice, study and research focused on design-led societal transitions towards more sustainable futures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Mellon University Africa</span> University in Rwanda

Carnegie Mellon University Africa, in Kigali, Rwanda, is a global location of Carnegie Mellon University. CMU-Africa offers master's degrees in Information Technology, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Engineering Artificial Intelligence. CMU-Africa is part of the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering. The College of Engineering is top-ranked. In U.S. News & World Report's 2024 graduate rankings, the College of Engineering was ranked #5.

References

  1. ↑ University, Carnegie Mellon. "History - CMU - Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  2. ↑ "Carnegie Mellon Design". Carnegie Mellon Design Website. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Lesko, Jim (1997-01-01). "Industrial Design at Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1934–1967". Journal of Design History. 10 (3): 269–292. doi:10.1093/jdh/10.3.269. ISSN   0952-4649.
  4. ↑ "Master of Design | Carnegie Mellon School of Design". design.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  5. ↑ "PhD in Transition Design | Carnegie Mellon School of Design". design.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  6. ↑ "Best New Media Programs". Usnews.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Best Graphic Design Rankings". Usnews.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Eric Anderson
  9. ↑ "Eric Anderson | CMU School of Design".

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.