Here, in a nutshell, is what’s been happening at NESADSU this past year:
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
NESADSU Interior Design Programs Ranked #3 in Nation for 2012
NESADSU’s undergraduate (Bachelor of Fine Arts) and graduate programs (Master of Arts) in Interior Design were ranked 3rd in the country by DesignIntelligence magazine for 2012, up from 5th and 6th respectively in 2011. This survey of design professionals “who have direct experience in hiring and in evaluating the performance of recent architecture and design graduates” constitutes an accurate appraisal of the preparedness of NESADSU students and alumni.
NESADSU Professor Karen Clarke Named to “Top 25” list of Interior Design Educators
Interior Design Program Co-Director Karen Clarke was named to DesignIntelligence’s list of the “25 Most Admired Educators of 2012”. The recipients of this honor, both educators and administrators, were chosen from the disciplines of interior design, architecture, industrial design and landscape design, based on “extensive input from thousands of design professionals, academic department heads and students”. (Both quotes are from DesignIntelligence magazine.)
SUCCESS IN STUDENT COMPETITIONS
NESADSU Student Wins Angelo Donghia Foundation Scholarship for 4th Time in 6 Years
Interior Design senior Heather Kology (2013) has been awarded an Angelo Donghia Foundation scholarship, which will pay up to $30,000 toward the expenses of her senior year study. Heather is the fourth NESADSU student to be awarded this scholarship in the past six years.
NESADSU Students Compete Successfully in Major Design Competitions:
The IES (Illuminating Engineering Society)’s Student Design Competition was won by Interior Design graduate students Jessie Greenberg (first prize) and Kathryn Goldenoak (second prize), while graduate student Lyuba Sardanova was the City Winner in the Save a Sample! Hand Drawing Competition in Boston, for which she won a scholarship for further study.
Graphic Design graduate student Victor Cabrera won the American Graphic Design Award for a class project advocating vegetarianism, while Steven Plummer won the Pacemaker Award for his design of the Bridge, Bridgewater State University’s literary journal. The Pacemaker Award, from the Associate Collegiate Press, is considered the highest honor given a student publication. Afraa Gutub’s photography was selected by Aetna for their Global Events & Festivals from Around the Globe 2012 Calendar; Emily Roose’s graduate thesis project, “Slow News”, was featured on the design blog Quipsologies; and Nick DeStefano’s class work in package design was featured on thedieline, a popular packaging design blog.
Undergraduate Graphic Design students, Brigid Griffin and Olivea Kelly took the top prizes in the Say Something poster competition, sponsored by HOW magazine, while Victoria Burnett and Jacquelyn Schaab took first and second prizes respectively in Grand Circle Gallery’s vintage poster competition.
Fine Arts undergraduates Holly Hart and Katia Christakis were accepted into this year’s Copley Society student competition and exhibition.
FACULTY RECOGNITION
Professional Design Organizations
Several NESADSU faculty members hold senior positions within various professional Interior Design organizations:
Jane Hassan, Adjunct Interior Design faculty, President, ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) New England chapter
Nancy Hackett, Interior Design Program Co-Director, IIDA (International Interior Design Institute) New England Board of Directors
Karen Clarke, Interior Design Program Co-Director, IDEC (Interior Design Educators Council) Board Member; CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation) Site Visitor; Historic New England Council Member
Grants
Assistant Professor Anna Gitelman was awarded a $20,000 grant from the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education, which enabled her to create a new Advanced Light & Technology course for the MFA program in Interior Architecture.
Illustration Program Director Lisa French was awarded a $10,000 Whitfield Foundation grant for NESADSU’s newly inaugurated BFA program in Illustration.
Art History Professor Afshan Bokhari was awarded a Faculty Research Grant by the Palestinian American Research Council (CAORC).
Public Presentations
Associate Professor and art historian Afshan Bokhari was featured as a specialist in Islamic art on the PBS television program “Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World”, which aired on July 6, 2012.
Interior Design faculty member Sean Solley presented at the Suffolk University Technology Symposium in May 2012.
Adjunct Graphic Design faculty member, Minko Dimov, was invited to speak to Harvard Business School graduates and young professionals in April, on the subject of creative thinking as it communicates social exchange outside the arts-specific discourse. He was also commissioned to create a memorial in honor of the founding director of his own alma mater, the German Gymnasium in Bulgaria, which was unveiled at a ceremony on May 27, 2012.
Publications
In 2011, Afshan Bokhari had scholarly articles published in two journals: the Journal of Persianate Studies, Special Issue: “Imperial Transgressions and Spiritual Investitures: Female Agency in Seventeenth Century Mughal India” (Brill Publishers); and “Between Patron and Piety: Jahan Ara Begum’s Sufi Affiliations and Articulations” in Sufism and Society: Arrangements of the Mystical in the Muslim World 1200-1800 C.E. (Routledge Publications, London and New York).
Foundation faculty member Harry Bartnick’s work was featured in 2011’s 100 Boston Painters, Schiffer Publishing, Lancaster, PA.
ALUMNI RECOGNITION
International (and Historic) Recognition
Master of Arts in Graphic Design alumna Aaliah Al-Aali (2011) is the first woman in history to design a Qur’an (Koran). Her Master’s thesis project, “To Elevate the Aesthetic Value of the Mass-Produced Qur’an”, also appeared in a brochure which took top honors at the Dubai International Print Awards exhibition.
International Internships Awarded NESADSU Students
In 2011, two Graphic Design undergraduate students from NESADSU were selected to take part in post-graduate internships at ICON Worldwide, an international graphic design firm located in Switzerland. This year Bianca Pettinicchi and Eleanor Kaufman (both Graphic Design 2010) took part, as Amy Parker and Lauren DeFranza had the year before. As of this writing, two more NESADSU alums have been chosen for 2012, Jackie Schaab and Hope Reagan, both 2012 graduates of NESADSU. These prestigious positions provide recent graduates with international design experience, cultural exposure, enhanced professional portfolios and everlasting memories.
Suffolk University Alumni Awards
The Suffolk University Alumni Office Awarded a Young Alumni Award to Kodiak Starr (Graphic Design 2002), who is currently the Creative Director of Digital Strategy at the White House, while Marisa Borst (Interior Design 2006) and Eric Heins (Graphic Design 2009) were given 10 Under 10 Awards.
NESADSU Honors Prominent Alumnus
BFA alumnus Michael Moeller (Interior Design 2001) was honored by NESADSU at a gathering at the Montage showroom on March 9th, which also celebrated the DI rankings. Graduate and undergraduate students and alumni came together to hear Michael speak about his experiences as a New York designer with a stint on HGTV’s Design Star and several other design-based television shows.
DEGREES CONFERRED
NESADSU Students Awarded Dual CAS Degrees
For the first time ever in the College of Arts and Sciences, two undergraduate students, both NESADSU BFA candidates, were awarded dual degrees: Janelle Parent, a BFA in Interior Design and a BA in Art History, and Kelly Bushey, a BFA in Interior Design and a BS in Mathematics. The Faculty Assembly voted to grant both students dual degrees at their May 2012 meeting; both graduated Cum Laude.
Statistics
In 2012 NESADSU graduate programs (MAGD and MAID) conferred a total of 46 Master of Arts degrees, second only to the Department of Education and Human Services:
For the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, Suffolk University conferred a total of 91 Master of Arts degrees in Interior Design and 26 in Graphic Design, for a total of 117 graduate degrees awarded, making NESADSU second among graduate programs in numbers of degrees awarded. With the addition of 2012 graduates, Suffolk awarded 163 Master of Arts degrees in the four years from 2009 to 2012.
For the same years, 2009, 2010 and 2011, 149 NESADSU undergraduates were likewise awarded Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. The combined total of graduate and undergraduate degrees conferred on NESAD graduates comes to 266.